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ISI fans anti-India narrative in Bangladesh to rig Feb polls: Intelligence inputs

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New Delhi, Dec 25: The ISI’s role in attempting to fan an anti-India sentiment in Bangladesh is most certainly confirmed, given the rhetoric by some Pakistan news outlets and a few leaders. Some media outlets have recklessly blamed India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) for the murder of student leader Sharif Osman Hadi. The claim has been made at a time when the Bangladesh authorities themselves are unclear about the killers and their motive.

Adding to the fire is a fiery video message by Kamran Sayeed Usmani, a leader of Pakistan’s ruling party, PML-N, who went on an anti-India rhetoric.

While blaming New Delhi for the mess in Bangladesh, he threatens that missiles would be directed at India. Officials say that these are reckless messages only aimed at ensuring that the violence continues in Bangladesh.

The official further pointed out that there is a pattern to such messaging. The intention is to internationalise the domestic problems in Bangladesh, and by dragging India into it, these elements are trying to achieve just that. Not a single country except Pakistan has blamed India for the mess that is on in Bangladesh. In fact, it was the Pakistan deep-state that orchestrated this mess by first ensuring that Sheikh Hasina was ousted and the Jamaat-e-Islami was in the driver’s seat. The international community is aware that the Jamaat is a puppet of the ISI.

Following the Liberation War, it was the ISI and Jamaat which planned large-scale illegal immigration into India so that demographic changes could be executed. Intelligence Bureau officials who are keeping a close watch on the developments in Bangladesh say that the ISI is playing two games here.

Pakistan has been desperately seeking revenge against India since it lost the 1971 war, which led to the creation of Bangladesh. Hence, there has been the manufacturing of a false narrative so that the people of Bangladesh are pitted against India.

The ISI realises that it would need a Jamaat government or one backed by it to be in power. Parties like the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) have been showing signs of moving away from the Jamaat and ISI, as the party wants a developed and not a radical nation.

The signs became clear when the BNP distanced itself from the Jamaat and decided to contest the elections on its own.

This shift has hurt the ISI and made it insecure, as the BNP does have every chance of winning the elections. Pollsters have predicted a win for the BNP in the absence of the Awami League, which has been banned from contesting the elections.

Former Prime Minister and BNP chief Khaleda Zia is unwell, and this could well be a sympathy factor for the party in the February 2026 polls. The BNP cadre will also be bolstered by the return of Zia’s son, Tarique Rehman, who is set to visit Bangladesh after 17 years in exile.

All these factors have made the ISI and Jamaat uneasy, and they feel that the elections can slip out of their hand.

Bangladesh watchers say that the elections are unlikely to be put off as pressure from the international community is building up. Experts say that the elections in Bangladesh are most likely to go as per schedule, but the fairness of it remains a question mark.

Intelligence agencies say that the violence is being fanned by the Jamaat-controlled groups so that the people do not come out and vote in large numbers. They want to create fear in the minds of the people so that they stay indoors when the elections are on.

Many Awami League supporters are unlikely to vote as the party is banned. Some are likely to shift their loyalties to the BNP, and if this does happen, then the party’s chances of winning the elections will only increase.

Analysts say that there is either a chance of a short postponement of the elections or a completely unfair one being conducted.

The ISI is doing everything possible to rig the polls by inciting violence. While trying to rig the polls, the ISI is also dishing out a false narrative to create an anti-India sentiment among the people.

Crime

ED files FIR, foils bid to trespass flat attached in extortion case against Dawood’s brother

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In a matter related to fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim’s brother, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) lodged an FIR seeking action against miscreants who trespassed a Thane flat that was attached earlier in connection with an extortion case registered against Iqbal Ibrahim Kaskar, an officials said on Friday.

The flat was attached by the ED in 2022 during money laundering investigation in a case relating to extortion by accused Iqbal Kaskar, younger brother of underworld don Dawood, who is suspected to be in Pakistan, the official said in a statement.

The FIR was filed as a deterrent action against miscreants for trespassing the “confirmed attached properties” in the possession of the ED’s Mumbai Zonal Office-I, it said.

“The FIR was lodged on October 15 after restoring the possession of a flat in Thane (West) under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002,” the ED said.

“In respect of the alleged unauthorised entry and interference with the attached property, an FIR dated October 15 has been registered at Kasarvadavali Police Station in Thane under Sections 329(4) and 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, so that the matter is investigated and trespassers are punished,” the ED added.

The property was provisionally attached vide provisional attachment order dated April 8, 2022, during money laundering investigation in the extortion case against Iqbal Kaskar and others, it said.

The provisional attachment was subsequently confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority under Section 8(3) of the PMLA vide order dated September 29, 2022, and possession of the flat was also taken by the ED on December 17, 2024, under Section 8(4) of the PMLA, the statement said.

The ED investigation was initiated on the basis of FIR registered at Kasarvadavali Police Station in Thane, concerning allegations of extortion against, inter alia, Iqbal Kaskar, Mumtaz Azaz Sheikh alias Raju, Israr Ali Jamil Saiyad and others.

During investigation, it was revealed that pursuant to threats and extortion, flats were demanded to be registered in favour of or at the instance of the accused persons, the ED said.

In this context, Flat No. 405 was registered in the name of Mumtaz Azaz Sheikh on May 29, the ED said.

It came to notice that some people had entered the property, broken the lock and removed the ED’s possession notice, the statement said.

The ED conducted inspections and took necessary steps to safeguard the attached property.

The matter was also placed before the Special PMLA Court, which also directed the ED to restore the possession with police assistance, if required.

In compliance and also to safeguard the property, the lock of said flat was changed in presence of police personnel and witnesses and the possession of the said flat was restored, the ED said.

A fresh notice was also affixed on the premises clearly mentioning that any aggrieved person may either approach the office of the ED or the court where the trial of the case is being conducted, it added.

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Business

ED attaches Rs 85.2 crore Kolkata land linked to Unity Infraprojects bank fraud case

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached an immovable property spread over approximately 14.51 acres in Kolkata valued at Rs 85.20 crore, in connection with a bank fraud and money laundering case involving M/s Unity Infraprojects Ltd. (UIL) and others, the agency said on Friday.

According to the ED, the attached land, located at Mouza Chakgaria in Kolkata, is held in the name of M/s Suburban Agriculture Dairy & Fisheries Pvt. Ltd. (SADAFPL). The attachment was made under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The money laundering investigation stems from an FIR registered by the CBI’s Bank Securities & Fraud Branch in Mumbai on a complaint lodged by the State Bank of India.

The FIR alleges that UIL, in connivance with its promoters, directors and associated entities, defrauded a consortium of 23 banks by availing credit facilities of around Rs 3,200 crore. The total outstanding dues, including interest, are estimated at approximately Rs 3,800 crore.

According to investigators, the fraud involved fictitious transactions, round-tripping of funds, manipulation of financial records, and diversion of funds through shell entities.

The ED said its probe revealed that funds from UIL were routed through its wholly owned subsidiary, Unity Realty & Developers Ltd. (URDL), and subsequently used to acquire and hold assets through associated companies. SADAFPL was identified as a step-down subsidiary of UIL through URDL.

Further investigations established a trail linking the Chakgaria land parcel to funds originating from UIL and its group entities, indicating diversion and layering of proceeds generated from the scheduled offences. The property was attached under Section 5(1) of the PMLA to prevent its transfer or disposal pending confiscation proceedings.

The agency noted that in July 2025 it had conducted searches at residential and commercial premises, as well as bank lockers, linked to UIL, its former directors and their family members. During those operations, movable assets worth Rs 31.21 crore were seized or frozen.

The ED had also attached land parcels and flats valued at about Rs 1,493 crore through three separate provisional attachment orders, all of which were later confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority under the PMLA.

With the latest attachment, the total value of movable and immovable assets attached or frozen in the case has risen to about Rs 1,609 crore, the agency said.

The ED further informed that it filed a prosecution complaint before the Designated Special Court, City Civil and Sessions Court, Greater Bombay, Mumbai, on March 27, 2026.

Further investigation is underway.

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Crime

Illegal forex receipt: ED raids Mumbai, Delhi premises of Mega Millennium

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The ED conducted search operations at half a dozen premises, including offices and residential properties, in Mumbai and Delhi and a farmhouse in Maharashtra in connection with the illegal receipt of foreign exchange from Dubai and Singapore by Mega Millennium Private Limited, an official said on Friday.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted the searches under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the official said in a statement.

Apart from inspecting digital devices and incriminating documents related to Mega Millennium Private Limited, the investigators also conducted searches at a farmhouse in Karjat, Maharashtra, the ED said.

Foreign currency, Indian currency and valuables worth several crores of rupees were also detected by the ED during the search operation, said an official.

The focus of the ED’s search operation was on Harish Dedhiya, a Mumbai-based consultant and director of the company, the statement said.

The company and its directors, including Dedhiya and his wife Dhara Dedhiya, have received large sums of foreign exchange from suspicious companies based in Dubai and Singapore, the ED said.

The ED investigation indicated that Dedhiya incorporated companies by appointing his own employees/dummies as Directors. Within a year of incorporation, these companies received hundreds of crores of rupees, which were layered through multiple shell entities, the ED said.

In a separate case in Maharashtra, the ED conducted search operations at 10 premises, including hospital/IVF centres, located in Thane, Baramati and Nashik and seized digital evidence and Rs 29 lakh in cash during the investigation in a human egg extraction racket, an official said.

The ED’s Mumbai Zonal Office-II conducted search operations on October 16 at the10 premises under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The ED investigation was initiated based on an FIR and a subsequent chargesheet filed by Badlapur (East) Police Station, Thane, Maharashtra, alleging offences of cheating and forgery under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and violations of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, by Manjusha Wankhede and 16 others, the ED said in a statement.

The case pertains to an organised network involved in recruiting financially vulnerable women for human egg donation and supplying them to various IVF centres and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) banks through donor-supply agents operating under different proprietorship concerns, the agency said.

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