In a startling report to the ministry of home affairs, the Enforcement Directorate has spoken about several suspicious financial transactions. The ED suspects that the amount was used to fund the protests against the newly amended citizenship law.

Under the scanner is an organisation called the Rehab India Foundation, which is linked to the Popular Front of India. The Intelligence agencies have often said that there are external elements who are fanning the violence. The money transactions were highest during December 2019, when the protests were most intense, the ED has also said.

Rs 120 crore and counting:

In one part of the report titled Analysis of Bank Accounts of PFI, the ED says that the organisation received Rs 120.5 crore. It was either withdrawn on the same day or within three days.

The ED says that the scrutiny of the bank account with the Syndicate Bank’s Moovar Road branch at Kozhikode, Kerala suggested that payments of Rs 3.77 crore were made to various individuals. The ED says that these payments include the ones made to Sibal (Rs 77 lakh), Jaisingh (Rs 4 lakh), PFI Kashmir (Rs 1.65 crore) and New Jyothi Group (Rs 1.17 crore). The ED also speaks about a payment of Rs 3.10 lakh made to one Abdul Samad, who is an accused charged by the National Investigation Agency.

While Kapil Sibal said that he had received funds for professional services rendered in the Hadiya case, Indira Jaisingh denied all allegations that she received money from the PFI at any point of time.

Direct co-relation: 

The Enforcement Directorate further mentions that the deposits and withdrawals from the bank accounts of the PFI reveal that there is a direct co-relation between the dates of deposits and withdrawals and the dates of demonstration against the new citizenship law.

The ED in its report under the title Summary of Evidences says that the PFI mobilised cash for organising the demonstration against the citizenship law.

The ED also noted that within a month of the Citizenship Amendment Bill being introduced in Parliament on December 4 2019, ten bank accounts of the PFI and five of the Rehab India Foundation received Rs 1.04 crore. The ED says the RIF is a related entity of the PFI. Amounts deposited ranged between Rs 5,000 and Rs 49,000 and these were either in cash or through IMPS.

ED sources confirmed to MyNation that the deposits were intentionally kept below Rs 50,000 as the identity would be disclosed. PFI on the other hand has denied all allegations and said that it would not bow down to such a cheap campaign. We will continue our struggle against the forces who try and suppress voices of dissent, the PFI also said.

Infiltrating the protests:

Meanwhile, an Indian American community member, Adapa Prasad, has said that pro-Pakistani elements have infiltrated the protests in the US.

He further said that two Pakistani Americans were among the main organisers of the anti citizenship law protests at Washington DC last Sunday. Prasad further added that Darakshan Raja, a Pakistani American who coordinates the protests on Kashmir and one Khudai Tanveer were the main coordinators of the protests held on Sunday.
During the protests, a banner read, ‘Has ke life hai Pakistan, larr key lenge Hindustan.’ This means that they got Pakistan easily and now they would fight to get India out. 

Prasad also makes a mention about Khalistan elements being part of these protests. He said that a pro-Khalistan activist, Arjun Sethi, was also one of the coordinators of the protests.

The Indian agencies have repeatedly said that pro-Pakistan elements have been infiltrating the protests both in India as well as abroad. These persons are using these protests to further their own hidden agenda, an Intelligence Bureau official said.

The SIMI and the hidden mobs:

A report prepared by the Intelligence Bureau in the second week of December 2019 had stated that groups such as the Students Islamic Movement of India too had infiltrated the protests.
The report was prepared after the violence that erupted at the Jamia Millia University. It was found that some members of the SIMI were part of a hidden mob, which fanned the violence. The IB also noted that the SIMI was not just fanning the violence, but was also using the issue as a recruitment tool.

The SIMI has been systematically targeting Muslim youth and brainwashing them. They are spreading a false narrative regarding the new law, which does not affect any Indian Muslim. There has been a deliberate attempt on part of these groups and pro-Pakistan elements to create a fear among the Indian Muslims that they would lose their citizenship.

In addition to this, the agencies had also found the role of naxalites in the protests. It may be recalled that in Assam, a case was registered against Akhil Gogoi. His Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, closely linked to the naxalites, has been at the forefront of the protests. It was also found that the naxalites had decided to blow up the Secretariat at Assam as well.