ED arrests SDPI chief, says party funded by banned PFI

FAIZY, A RESIDENT OF KERALA, WAS ARRESTED AT DELHI AIRPORT AROUND 9.30PM ON MONDAY UNDER PMLA

- Neeraj Chauhan

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Moideen Kutty K alias MK Faizy, the national president of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), on the grounds that the party carries forward the ideology and agenda of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and is funded by it.

People familiar with the development said that Faizy, 55, a resident of Palakkad in Kerala, was arrested at Delhi airport around 9.30pm on Monday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), days after the financial crimes probe agency raided Faizy's residence in Kerala on February 28.

PFI and its eight affiliate organisations were banned by the ministry of home affairs under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA, on September 28, 2022, after a nationwide crackdown by ED and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) led to arrests and the recovery of purported incriminating documents from offices and homes of the outfit's office-bearers.

The Centre alleged the outfit, whose members are largely based in Kerala, was fuelling radicalisation and involved in terror-funding.

At the time of the crackdown in 2022, SDPI's offices in multiple cities were also raided and the party's activities have been under the scanner of both ED and NIA.