New Delhi: The Government of India is set to renew its efforts to ban the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) after the arrest of Popular Front of India (PFI) leader Wahidur Rahman Jainullabudeen by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday. The PFI is a banned organisation. While it has been alleged that the SDPI is the political front of the PFI, leaders of the party have maintained that they have no links with the banned outfit.
But what has the ED got to do with a matter already being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA)? The answer is that the Agency is attempting to obtain irrefutable evidence that the SDPI received funds from the PFI.
At the moment, there is no clause under which the Election Commission of India (ECI) can derecognise a political party. However, there is a Supreme Court order of 2002 that says that a political party can be derecognised if it receives funds in a fraudulent manner.
According to an investigator, the ED has scrutinised all donations received by the SDPI. During this scrutiny, it came to light that several individuals transferred substantial amounts from their bank accounts to the political party.
“During the investigation, it came to be known that equivalent amounts of cash were deposited into these individuals’ accounts immediately before the transfer to SDPI. The cash deposit slips obtained from the banks revealed that Wahidur Rahman Jainullabudeen was the one depositing these amounts in cash in the accounts of various other persons who have in turn transferred the same to SDPI Bank accounts. Additionally, Wahidur Rahman Jainullabudeen himself transferred funds to SDPI, after depositing cash of equivalent amounts in his account. This pattern indicates that Wahidur Rahman Jainullabudeen utilized these bank accounts as conduits to channel illicit funds and to project them as legitimate donations to SDPI,” the official said.
Who is Wahidur Rahman Jainullabudeen?
The NIA has come to know that he was a physical trainer of the PFI. Officials suspect that these physical education (PE) classes of the PFI were little more than a façade. The PFI was providing arms training under the garb of PE classes. Both offensive and defensive manoeuvres using different variations of blows, punches, kicks, and the use of knives and sticks were taught.
“One such case of conducting arms training under the garb of PE classes by the PFI was the Narath Arms Camp in Kerala’s Kannur district. In 2013, the PFI was imparting training to its cadres at this camp in the use of explosives and weapons. Wahidur Rahman was also arrested by the Tamil Nadu Police in 2022 for throwing petrol bombs at Mettupalayam, Coimbatore, while protesting the ban against the PFI. These bombs caused damage to property,” another official said.