A case has been registered against ‘Ajmal Foundation’, run by All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal, at Dispur police station in Assam Friday. The case was filed following a complaint lodged by Satya Ranjan Bohra, who accused the NGO of receiving foreign funding and utilising it in suspicious activities, Guwahati CP M S Gupta was quoted by ANI as saying.
We received a complaint from Satya Ranjan Bohra, alleging that Ajmal Foundation, run by Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, collected funds from abroad & utilised them in a suspicious manner. Case registered at Dispur police station: Guwahati CP M S Gupta on FIR against Ajmal Foundation pic.twitter.com/qLlxyXBJFg
— ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2020
The complaint, lodged by Satya Ranjan Borah was based on the report of Legal Rights Observatory (LRO), a legal rights body.
“Ajmal Foundation, an organisation run by Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, chief of AIUDF, being funded by some foreign agencies which are related to funding different terrorist groups and their terror activities as reported by an NGO Legal Rights Observatory. Considering the report, we want a proper investigation in this connection under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Ajmal Foundation has misused those foreign funds in several anti-national activities,” Borah alleged in the FIR.
Borah demanded that the AIUDF chief be arrested and awarded punishment for maintenance of national integrity, sovereignty, and social harmony. Borah suggested that some information provided in the FIR may be passed on to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for further investigation.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma backs allegations against AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal
Speaking on the issue, Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told journalists that people always had the misconception that Ajmal spent from his pocket and did humanitarian work, which is far from reality.
“There was a time when he (Ajmal) used to receive Rs 70-75 crore from foreign agencies. With that, he ran a hospital and did some other work. An established institution, which exposed many cases of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) violations, has claimed that the sources, Ajmal received the funds from, are related to terrorism,” Sarma said, adding that he was hopeful the Central government would carry out a probe.
Ajmal Foundation receiving crores of rupees from foreign organisations known for terror funding
We reported earlier that legal activist group Legal Rights Observatory had accused Ajmal Foundation of receiving foreign funding to a tune of Rs 69.55 crore from various dubious sources which have been primarily engaged in terror financing and money laundering activities. LRO had stated that the NGO has spent only Rs 2.05 crore from the above amount its actual purpose of ‘education’ and the rest of the amount has been routed to AIUDF, an Islamist party run by Ajmal, to counter the nationalist parties in Assam.
Legal Rights Observatory (LRO) had also revealed the names of various Islamic terror groups based in Turkey, Palestine and the United Kingdom, which have been funding Ajmal Foundation.
LRO has written a letter to the Union Home Ministry stating that the Ajmal Foundation has violated the rule of the land and its FCRA license needs to be scrapped.
Meanwhile, Badruddin Ajmal Ajmal has refuted the charges. “The allegations, levelled against the foundation by a BJP-RSS NGO, are politically-motivated and a conspiracy to defame me. The Central government monitors the funds transactions,” said Ajmal.
