An FIR has been filed against journalist Rana Ayyub in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad for her fundraising campaigns for COVID-19 and flood relief in Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra, Live Law reported.
The complaint has been filed by the co-founder of an outfit, Hindu IT Cell, at Indirapuram police station. Vikas Sankrityayan has alleged irregularities in three fundraising campaigns on Ketto that he attributes to Ayyub – funds to help COVID-hit people in India during the second wave, funds for slum dwellers and farmers in April-May 2020 and relief work for Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra in June-September 2020.
Other than the alleged irregularities, Sankrityayan has also sought a probe into the “foreign money” received as part of the fundraising campaigns.
The Hindu IT Cell has alleged that Ayyub had illegally collected money through the online platform Ketto “in the name of charity”, adding that the journalist also received foreign funds without the government’s approval.
The group alleged that a portion of the funds has still not been spent on beneficiaries, which the complainant claims to have confirmed with the online platform.
The charges against Ayyub were under section 4 (punishment for money laundering) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and section 66D of the Information Technology Act (punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resources).
Sections 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 418 (cheating), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code were also included in the FIR.