Tablighi Jamaat money laundering case: ED raids 20 places across 4 locations

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New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday (August 19, 2020) conducted raids at 20 places across 4 locations in the Tablighi Jamaat money laundering case. The probe agency searched at 7 locations in Delhi, 5 locations in Mumbai, 4 locations in Hyderabad and 3 places in Kerala.

ED also conducted raids at Delhi-based Tablighi Jamaat's Chief Maulana Saad's residence.

The ED raids were carried out to collect more evidence on suspected money-laundering activities.

The probe is looking at the funds spent by the Jamaat authorities for organising various religious events across the country. 

In April, the central probe agency had started its investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, on the basis of a Delhi Police’s Crime Branch’s FIR registered against the Jamaat chief Maulana Muhammad Saad, and five others on charges of violating nationwide lockdown restrictions.

The Jamaat’s source of funding is being probed by ED along with finances received by Saad from across the globe. The funds were used for the religious congregation in Delhi and the travel Jamaatis from over 20 countries in the world.

The Central government had blamed Jamaat members as initial super-spreaders of the viral outbreak, when around 26,000 of their contacts were quarantined across the country.