Thiruvananthapuram/New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted raids across several states in India, including Kerala, as part of its continued investigation into money laundering related to the SDPI, the political arm of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI). 

Kottayam and Palakkad in Kerala, Mettupalaiyam, Coimbatore, Arcot and Vellore in Tamil Nadu, Bhilwara and Kota in Rajasthan were some of the places raised under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). 

ED conducted the first round of searches in the case in the first week of March and arrested SDPI national president M K Faizy. The ED also claimed before a court while seeking Faizy's remand that there existed an "organic" relation between the two outfits and that the PFI was carrying out its criminal activities through the political party (SDPI).

Seeking Faizy's remand earlier this week, the ED told the court that the PFI and the SDPI were "organically" linked and the latter was nothing but the "political front" of the former and was "funded and controlled" by it.

The agency claimed that it had evidence to state that there was a "deep-rooted" nexus between the two organisations as there was "overlapping" membership of their cadres, involvement of PFI office-bearers in the founding of the SDPI and utilisation of each other's assets.

The PFI was banned by the Centre in September 2022, calling it an unlawful association and for allegedly indulging in terrorist activities. Multi-agency searches by the ED, National Investigation Agency (NIA) and various state police forces preceded the PFI ban.