Delhi court sends SDPI nat’l president Faizy to ED custody

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday sent SDPI national president M K Faizy to the custody of Enforcement Directorate (ED) for six days in an alleged money laundering case in connecion with the proscribed Popular Front of India (PFI).Additional sessions judge Chander Jit Singh sent Faizy to custody on the plea of ED seeking his interrogation to unearth the money trail in the case and conspiracy. The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), founded in 2009 and headquartered in Delhi, is alleged to be the political front of the now-banned PFI. The accused opposed the application, saying the funds were transferred before the PFI was declared unlawful.Faizy, according to the sources, was held on March 3 night from the Delhi international airport under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED has alleged SDPI to be the "political front" of PFI, which was banned by the Centre in Sept 2022 for being an "unlawful association". The SDPI, however, denies any such link and calls itself an independent outfit. According to the SDPI, Faizy was among the founder leaders of the organisation and was elected its national president in 2018. He is an Islamic scholar and a political observer who served as a Masjid Imam in the 1980s, the SDPI portal said. The organization, according to officials in the investigative agencies, has a "strong" influence in various pockets of Kerala and Karnataka and some southern states. PTI