Amnesty International India's assets attached in money laundering case

The Amnesty International India is facing multiple probes by the CBI and the ED

The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth Rs 17.66 crore of Amnesty International India (AII) and others in connection with a money laundering case.

The AII is facing multiple probes by the CBI and the ED, which accused it of violation of rules related to foreign funding and Foreign Exchange Management Act, charges which were denied by the international NGO.

In September last year, AII had said it was halting its operations in India and let go off staff claiming that the ED "froze" all its bank accounts in what it called "incessant witch-hunt". The government had denied the allegations.

The AII had then claimed that it came to know about the freezing of accounts over "unfounded and motivated" allegations on September 10. However, the Ministry of Home Affairs countered the AII saying its statement was "unfortunate, exaggerated and far from the truth" and human rights cannot be an "excuse for defying" the law of the land.

The AII had also cited the actions taken by government agencies, including raids by CBI in October 2018 and November 2019, freezing of bank accounts, Income Tax Department sending letters to over 30 "small regular donors" and denying permission to hold a press conference in Srinagar to release a report on misuse of Public Safety Act in Jammu and Kashmir.