The arrested leader has now been transferred to the ED’s office in Delhi, where he is currently being interrogated
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested MK Faizy, national president of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), in a money laundering case linked to the Popular Front of India (PFI).
Faizy was arrested at Delhi airport on Monday night under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Mohammed Shafi, national vice president of the SDPI, condemned the ED action describing it as “vendetta politics” by the Central government
“The arrest is nothing but part of vendetta politics to suppress the dissent and to oppress the political opponents. Social Democratic Party of India expresses its strong condemnation of the arrest,” Shafi said in a statement.
According to reports, the ED sources said the arrest follows findings that Faizy engaged in suspicious financial dealings in violation of anti-money laundering rules. Officials indicated that the move was part of a broader effort to dismantle the financial networks of groups suspected of involvement in extremist activities.
Faizy has now been transferred to the ED’s office in Delhi, where he is currently being interrogated.
Faizy was arrested three years after the Popular Front of India was banned by the Union government over allegations of extremist activities in September 2022. Following the ban, central agencies launched a massive crackdown on its leaders and members arresting dozens of them.
Founded in 2009, the SDPI has all along rejected claims that it has any links with the PFI. It calls itself an independent outfit.
The SDPI asserted that the arrest of its national president was nothing but vendetta politics by the BJP-led Union government to suppress the voice of the dissent.
“It’s part of the agenda of the regime to intimidate and oppress the democratic opponents by levelling false charges and misusing the agencies. The arrest is a clear indication that the regime is intolerant of SDPI which has been in the mainstream of agitation across the country in protest against the draconian Waqf Amendment Bill,” Shafi said.
“SDPI is committed to fight against such oppression and anti-democratic moves with full of its grit and spirit,” Shafi added.
The party recently held massive protests against the Waqf bill in different parts of the country calling the new provisions unacceptable.
Abdul Majeed, another SDPI leader and the party’s president in Karnataka, condemned Faizy’s arrest and described the move by the ED as part of the “Union government’s ongoing pattern of political vendetta targeting leaders who boldly oppose its anti-people and anti-democratic policies”
The Karnataka chapter of the SDPI, he said, will continue its fight against such oppression with full strength and unwavering determination.
