Police Busts PFI-SDPI Hawala Racket, Arrests PFI Secretary

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A hawala racket was busted by the city police after the arrest of two people, including a secretary of the Popular Front of India (PFI), from whom the police seized Rs 6 lakh, sources said.

In Andhra Pradesh, PFI’s political wing is Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and its candidates are contesting from Kurnool, Nandyal and Nellore, the police said.

Police said that the amount was allegedly meant to meet the election expenses of SDPI candidates for the Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Nandyal, Kurnool and Nellore districts of Andhra Pradesh.

After a tip-off, sleuths of the Commissioner’s Task Force (North Zone) apprehended two accused Syed Barkathullah Basha and Balwant Singh Purohit alias Suresh from Begum Bazar here yesterday for allegedly being involved in the hawala racket. The accused, Syed Barkathullah Basha, a Unani medicine practitioner and city secretary of the Popular Front of India (PFI), Hyderabad, had participated in protests against the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in February on behalf of the PFI, the police said.

On May 5 one Arif Ahmed,  a general secretary of the PFI informed Syed Barkathullah Basha that their Delhi office is sending Rs 6 lakh through the hawala channel to meet poll expenses of their candidates, the police said.

He was asked to collect the amount through a hawala agent called Balwant Singh Purohit and send it to Kurnool since elections were scheduled for May 7, the police said.

The arrested person and the seized amount were handed over to the station house officer of Afzalgunj police station.

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