The National Investigation Agency (NIA) carried out simultaneous raids at 16 different locations in the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka on Wednesday as part of the agency’s ongoing investigations into terror funding and its links to radical organisations, officials aware of the developments said.
The properties targeted in the raids reportedly belong to activists associated with the banned Popular Front of India (PFI). Senior officials said that the NIA received credible inputs suggesting that funds from Gulf countries were being channelled into Karnataka to support radical organisations engaged in terror-related activities.
The search operations, which began at 4 am on Wednesday, were carried out in various areas, including Bengaluru, Bantwal, Uppinangady, Venur, and Belthangady. The properties raided include several houses, shops, and even a hospital, the officials said.
According to officials, NIA officials recovered digital evidence related to money transactions, which will be crucial in unravelling the financial network supporting these unlawful activities.
This is not the first time the NIA has conducted searches in Dakshina Kannada district regarding terror-related activities. In March earlier this year, the agency initiated similar operations to identify the sources of funding for such activities.
These investigations are also linked to a case involving the PFI’s alleged plot to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a rally in Bihar on July 12, 2022.
The case was initially registered on July 12, 2022, at police station Phulwari Sharif, district Patna, Bihar and re-registered by the NIA on July 22, 2022. The NIA filed a charge sheet against four accused on January 7.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s investigation into the donations PFI received in 2018-19 revealed attempts to project suspicious bank transfers and receipts as legitimate credits.
The income tax department cancelled PFI’s registration after finding that sources of deposits in its various bank accounts did not match the financial profiles of account holders. PFI allegedly collected funds through a deep network in Gulf countries and the agency suspects it was conspiring and raising funds within India and abroad through banking channels, hawala, and donations. The Centre had proscribed PFI as an unlawful association.
