AIUDF to challenge FIR against Ajmal Foundation; Assam Minister presses on investigation

Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has asserted that the case against Ajmal Foundation needs to be investigated as a lot of things are 'coming forward' in the matter. Sarma's remarks come on the same day as AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal revealed that the foundation will approach the court and challenge the FIR filed. The matter pertains to suspicious funding of nearly Rs 54.60 crores allegedly from radical Islamist groups, in which the Guwahati Police filed an FIR on Saturday. 

"A lot of things are coming forward in the matter. So it will definitely need to be investigated," ANI quoted the Assam Finance Minister.

Lashing out at the Assam Chief Minister earlier today, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal stated that the Assam CM should have 'behaved like a politician and not like an enemy'. "There should be a limit to political hostility. We invite the Home Ministry to check our accounts," he added. 

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Case against AIUDF chief

The case has been registered over suspicious funding after the complaint was lodged by a person called Satya Ranjan Bohra citing allegations from Legal Rights Observatory (LRO), a legal activism group which alleged receipt of funds by one of the NGOs of Ajmal from "radical terrorist Islamist groups" from abroad. Vinay Joshi of the LRO has claimed that Akmal's foundation received funds from foreign organisations which are "closely associated with Al-Qaeda terror network, Hizbul Mujahideen Kashmiri terror network and Egyptian and Kuwaiti Islamic Brotherhood networks."

"While analysing their annual and quarterly donations, we came across all these terror groups funding and financing Badruddin Ajmal," Vinay Joshi alleged. 

In a series of tweets, Legal Rights Observatory has alleged that Markazul Maarif, a CSR wing of Ajmal Foundation of the AIUDF leader got nearly 70 crore rupees. The tweet by the complainant stated that the funds received was used in political activities of AIUDF and it was received from Turkish and UK based terror groups.

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The LRO alleged that one of the donors have links with extremists including the 9/11 US attack "mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed n Tariq al-Suwaidan", who is listed by the US authorities as "an unindicted co-conspirator". Legal Rights Observatory also shared elaborate details about the donors who funded the NGO and concluded by alleging that Ajmal has "grossly misused" the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010. In an earlier tweet on December 3, the LRO had claimed that of the 69.55 crore rupees received by Ajmal's NGO, only Rs 2.05 crore was used for education while rest of the funds was routed to "counter Hindu political forces". Reportedly, Assam Cabinet minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has urged the Centre to intervene and probe the matter.