Hathras gang-rape case: Enforcement Directorate to grill 4 PFI activists in Mathura jail

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is set to question four alleged activists of the controversial Kerala-based outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) in connection with the ongoing probe into the horrific Hathras gang-rape case.

These four suspected PFI activists were arrested by the UP Police from Mathura while they were going to Hathras from Delhi on Monday. According to the sources, the ED officials will grill them inside the Mathura jail.

The central agency has also sought permission from the CJM court in Mathura. 

These men are believed to be allegedly linked to the PFI and its associate outfit Campus Front of India (CFI). They have been identified as Atiq-ur Rehman of Muzaffarnagar, Masood Ahmed of Bahraich, Alam of Rampur and Siddique, a journalist from Kerala`s Malappuram.

The UP Police had seized their mobile phones, laptop and some literature, which could have had an impact on the law and order situation.

According to sources, the central financial probe agency, which has been investigating the role of the PFI for the last few years, including its involvement in the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) stir last year and the northeast Delhi riots in February this year, will try to ascertain if there are any links between the outfit and the Hathras case.

Since the four men have been booked by the UP Police under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the central agency will try to ascertain if there was any money laundering.

However, it is not clear if the agency will file a fresh case under the PMLA against them. The central agency will probe if the PFI provided funding or logistic support to those who indulged in hooliganism after the death of the 19-year-old Hathras girl.

The girl died on September 29 at a government hospital in Delhi, where she was admitted for treatment. Earlier, the Yogi Adityanath-led government had blamed the PFI for violent protests in the state against the CAA laws.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has referred to "recent incidents" and said "anarchist elements" are trying to trigger communal and caste violence in the state after the Hathras incident.