The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday asked the top leadership of the Congress to explain if they have taken money from the Popular Front of India (PFI), which has been accused of funding anti-CAA protests. The saffron party said that news reports related to the Enforcement Directorate’s findings on PFI funding were disturbing and it raised serious questions on some of the top leaders of the Congress.

Earlier in the day, it was reported that the ED had found that Rs 130 crore was deposited in 73 bank accounts related to PFI. The PFI had been under the scanner for a very long time. But the ED noticed a sudden spike in the deposits and withdrawal of money through its bank accounts in parts of the country where protests were happening against the CAA. The money was deposited by three NGOs and one of them was Rehab Indian Foundation, according to a report in News18.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra reacted very sharply to this development and said: “It’s (PFI reports) very serious, Rs 120 crore deposited in 73 bank accounts. And how it has been distributed across the country at a time when violent protests were happening against the CAA. It is clear that manufactured violence was created by distributing money through PFI. We have also seen how 25 people linked to PFI were arrested in Uttar Pradesh for arsoning. This raises questions on some big people — and those people are Kapil Sibal, Indira Jaising and Dushyant Dave.”

Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, Patra said: “I want to ask Congress and Sonia Gandhi — Did Kapil Sibal take Rs 77 lakh (from PFI)? Want to ask Indira Jaising, how much did you take?” He further said that Congress was lending its hands to divisive forces by taking money. “PFI is not a social organization. PFI is the same organization that cuts professors’ hands, promotes arson and terrorism. Sonia ji, does your party work by taking money from such an organization?” the saffron party leader asked.

Continuing his onslaught, Patra said: “It was the same Congress party, which took Money from Zakir Naik (the controversial Islamic preacher who is wanted in India for his hateful speeches). Later, she said that the money was returned. So it is not a big thing that it may have taken money from PFI as a donation.”