Covid-19: ED books Tablighi Jamaat leader in money laundering case

The move comes after Delhi police had booked case against him for violating Covid-19 induced lockdown orders, after some of the attendees of the religious congregation died due to the pandemic

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday registered a money laundering case against Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi in connection with alleged dubious financial dealings.

The move comes after Delhi police had booked a case against him for violating Covid-19 induced lockdown orders, after some of the attendees of the religious congregation died due to the pandemic.

Kandhalvi had organised the religious gathering at Nizamuddin Markaz last month against the social distancing protocol imposed by the Centre to curb the spread of the deadly disease.

“We have examined his ( Kandhalvi) finances and the related accounts. He has received some large sum from multiple sources in India and abroad. We are probing the money trails, said an ED official privy to the development.

PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering) provision also covers some of the provisions of Foreigners Act and certain provisions of Indian Penal code, official explained.  
 

Under the Foreigners Act, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has already cancelled visas of over 900 Tablighis under the Foreigners Act and blacklisted them for violation of visa rules.

Sources say that enforcement agency is examining certain links of finances and wheather it is linked with the one behind the protests organised in Delhi and elsewhere against the Citizenship Amendment Act. It has alleged that Popular Front of India, among others, for financing the protests at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh.