Tag: searches

No FEMA violations found so far after ED searches at BYJU’S

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New Delhi: The initial investigation after the recent searches at BYJU’S have so far found no Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations by the edtech firm, according to sources.
Sources indicated that the recent searches conducted on the premises of BYJU’S in Bengaluru by Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the material collected has yet to establish any FEMA violations.
The investigations are still at an early stage and according to sources, BYJU’S had cooperated and provided ED with all the necessary documents.

When contacted, a top ED official told IANS that the BYJU’S investigation is ongoing and “we cannot comment on the ongoing investigation”.
The ED had earlier carried out searches at three premises linked to BYJU’S in Bengaluru, in connection with alleged foreign exchange violations.
ED in a tweet had said that they collected various incriminating documents and digital data during its searches.
FEMA searches also revealed that the company has received foreign direct investment to the tune of Rs 28,000 crore (approximately) during the period from 2011 to 2023.
Further, the company has also remitted about Rs 9,754 crore to various foreign jurisdictions during the same period in the name of overseas direct investment.

A BYJU’S spokesperson had said that the ED visit “was related to a routine inquiry under FEMA and there has been no violations under FEMA by BYJU’S.
“We have been completely transparent with the authorities and have provided them with all the information they have requested. We have nothing but the utmost confidence in the integrity of our operations, and we are committed to upholding the highest standards of compliance and ethics,” the company spokesperson had said.
The edtech firm said that it will continue to work closely with the authorities to ensure that they have all the information they need.
“We are confident that this matter will be resolved in a timely and satisfactory manner. We want to emphasise that it is business as usual at BYJU’S,” said the company.
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#FEMA #violations #searches #BYJUS
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 7, 2023
Jamaat-e-Islami terror funding case: NIA carries out searches at 16 locations in J-K

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Jammu: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches at 16 locations in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday as part of its crackdown on the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) in a terror funding case, an official said.
The searches were conducted at the premises of JeI members and supporters at 16 locations — 11 in Baramulla district of north Kashmir and five in Kishtwar district of Jammu region — a spokesperson of the federal agency said.
The official said several incriminating materials and digital devices were seized during the searches and were being examined for more clues in the case.

“JeI has been found carrying out terror funding activities in Jammu and Kashmir, even after being declared an unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on February 28, 2019,” the spokesperson said.
The NIA filed a charge sheet in a special court in New Delhi on May 12 last year against four accused after registering a suo motu case of terror funding against the outfit on February 5, 2021.
The spokesperson said previous investigations by the NIA had revealed that one of the four arrested accused, Javaid Ahmad Lone, had been soliciting funds and organising meetings in the name of JeI.
“He had been delivering hateful anti-India speeches and exhorting people to make donations at these meetings. Along with Aadil Ahmad Lone, he had acquired firearms and ammunition with ulterior motives from the other two accused, identified as Manzoor Ahmad Dar and Rameez Ahmad Kondu,” the spokesperson said.
In February 2019, the Centre had banned JeI for five years under anti-terror laws on grounds that it was “in close touch” with militant outfits and was expected to “escalate secessionist movement” in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Hundreds of JeI activists were arrested in a major crackdown across Jammu and Kashmir following the ban, which came just months ahead of the abrogation of the special status of the erstwhile state and its bifurcation into Union territories in August 2019.
The spokesperson said the investigations so far have revealed that JeI (J&K) members had been collecting funds domestically and from abroad through donations, particularly in the form of zakat, mowda and bait-ul-mal, as well as for purported charitable purposes such as promotion of education and health.
“The funds were, instead, being used for violent and secessionist activities in J&K. They were also being channelled to proscribed terrorist organisations such as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba and others through well-organised networks of JeI cadres,” the spokesperson said.
The NIIA said JeI was also engaged in motivating impressionable youths of Kashmir and recruiting new members for carrying out “violent, disruptive and secessionist activities”.
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#JamaateIslami #terror #funding #case #NIA #carries #searches #locations
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 4, 2023
Kupwara Gunfight: 2 Militants Killed, Searches On: Police

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Srinagar, May 03(GNS): Police on Wednesday said that two unidentified militants have been killed, while searches are underway in Machil area of North Kashmir’s Kupwara.
Updating about the ongoing gunfight, The Kashmir Police Zone tweeted, ” 02 militants killed. Search operation still going on. Further details shall follow,”.(GNS)
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#Kupwara #Gunfight #Militants #Killed #Searches #Police
( With inputs from : roshankashmir.net )

May 3, 2023
North Kashmir Gunfight: Two Militants Killed, Searches On: Police

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SRINAGAR: Police on Wednesday said that two unidentified militants have been killed, while searches are underway in Machil area of North Kashmir’s Kupwara.
Updating about the ongoing gunfight, The Kashmir Police Zone tweeted, ” 02 militants killed. Search operation still going on.
Further details shall follow,”.(GNS)

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#North #Kashmir #Gunfight #Militants #Killed #Searches #Police
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

May 3, 2023
AP: CID conducts searches at 37 branches of Margadarsi across State

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Mangalagiri: The crime investigation department of Andhra Pradesh conducted searches at 37 branches of Margadarsi Chit Funds Pvt Ltd (MCFPL) across the State on Saturday, for alleged financial irregularities.
As part of the State government’s continuing probe, CID teams were deployed to conduct extensive searches of financial records and documents in the 37 branches of Margadarsi, said AP CID chief Sanjay.
“In continuation of investigation in cases registered against Margadarsi on April 29, the CID is conducting searches at the following 37 branches of MCFPL,” Sanjay said in a statement.

The AP CID had earlier raided multiple offices of the company last month on alleged irregularities, including diversion of depositors money into mutual funds and speculative markets for personal gain.
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#CID #conducts #searches #branches #Margadarsi #State
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 29, 2023
Government report shows steep decline in FBI’s ‘backdoor searches’ on Americans

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At the heart of the battle: Section 702 is a powerful spying program that allows the intelligence community to snoop on the emails and other digital communications of foreigners located abroad. But the FBI does not need a warrant to search communications that have already been collected under the statute — and its growing use, and misuse, of those powers to snoop on Americans in recent years have made lawmakers reticent about reupping the program as is.
Showing restraint: The substantial decline documented within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s 2023 Annual Statistical Transparency Report buttresses the administration’s claims that it has managed to rein in FBI searches on Americans, a senior FBI official told reporters ahead of the report’s release.
The report “aptly illustrates how built-in oversight that Congress put in the statute works to … repair trust and transparency,” said the official, who provided the briefing to reporters on condition of anonymity.
The data: The FBI sifted through — or “queried” in intelligence community parlance — the 702 database for details on Americans roughly 120,000 times last year after conducting nearly 3 million such searches in 2021 and 850,000 thousand searches in 2020, the report says.
The bureau conducted those 120,000 searches due to alleged connections to foreign spies and security threats.
The bureau also has the ability to scour through the database for details on purely domestic crimes — another hot-button issue that has surfaced amid the reauthorization debate. But the FBI made only 16 such searches last year and 13 the year prior, according to the report.
Zooming out: The new report is the first to disclose the impact of a series of fixes the intelligence community implemented in 2021 after a secret intelligence court overseeing the program determined in rulings from 2021 and 2020 that the bureau committed “apparent widespread violations of the querying standard.”
The reforms amounted to a series of internal measures to discourage bureau personnel from improperly probing the database, like requiring agents to affirmatively opt-in to 702 searches and setting an upper limit on the number of terms that could be used at a time.

Falling on deaf ears: But the new data doesn’t appear to be getting traction with lawmakers who believe the spying program should not be reauthorized absent new safeguards for the federal law enforcement agency.
“While there was a sharp decline in U.S. person queries from December 2021 to November 2022, it is incumbent upon Congress, not the Executive Branch, to codify reforms to FISA Section 702,” Reps. Mike Turner (R-Oh.) and Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) said in a statement upon the report’s release.
“Today’s report highlights the urgent need for reforms to government surveillance programs in order to protect the rights of law-abiding Americans,” added Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a longtime privacy advocate, in a statement.
CORRECTION: A prior version of this story misstated the number of queries for purely domestic crimes in 2021. There were 13.
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#Government #report #shows #steep #decline #FBIs #backdoor #searches #Americans
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 28, 2023
Poonch attack: Massive searches underway to track culprits

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Poonch: Army’s Northern Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi on Sunday said that necessary action is underway against the terrorists responsible for the deadly attack on an army truck in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district that left five soldiers dead.
A massive search operation to track down the terrorists is underway in Bhata Dhurian following the ambush on the army vehicle carrying fruits and other items to a border village for an Iftar that was to be hosted by the Rashtriya Rifles unit on Thursday evening, officials said.
In a tweet on its official handle, the Army’s Northern Command shared Lt Gen Dwivedi’s visit to the Command Hospital in Udhampur and his interaction with the survivor of the terror attack.

“#LtGenUpendraDwivedi #ArmyCdrNC interacted with the survivor of the 20 Apr
23 #Poonch incident at Command Hospital #Udhampur and assured that necessary
action is underway,” read the tweet accompanied by two pictures of the soldier.
The Northern Army Commander on Saturday visited the attack site at Bhata Dhurian, an area that is a preferred infiltration route for terrorists from across the Line of Control because of its topography, dense forest cover and natural caves.
Dwivedi reviewed the security in the border area and the ongoing combing operation to track down the terrorists.
The Northern Command said in a tweet that he was briefed on the actions undertaken so far and exhorted the troops to be steadfast in their resolve.
While the search operation is underway amid a high alert in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri, the traffic on Rajouri-Poonch highway was restored on Sunday morning after remaining suspended since Thursday evening, the officials said.

They said traffic was earlier diverted to other routes to secure the highway which connects the twin border districts with Jammu.
The officials said around 14-16 people have been detained for questioning.
“Among those rounded up are two couples from Degwar in Poonch – Iqbal and his wife Mudifa and Salam Din and his wife Rashida,” an official source said, adding further investigation is on.
The slain soldiers were from a Rashtriya Rifles unit deployed for counter-terror operations.
Sources earlier said the attack is suspected to have been carried out by a group of three to four terrorists.
The attackers possibly spent more than a year in Rajouri and Poonch and had adequate knowledge of the terrain, they added.
The Jammu and Kashmir Gaznavi Force (JKGF) is said to be active in the area and its “commander”, Rafiq Ahmed alias Rafiq Nayi, hails from the region.
Currently, three-four terrorist groups are active in the region of Rajouri and Poonch, the sources said.
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#Poonch #attack #Massive #searches #underway #track #culprits
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 23, 2023
CBI searches 12 locations over illegal sale of reserved railway seats

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New Delhi: The CBI has conducted searches at 12 locations in different states in connection with its ongoing probe in alleged illegal sale of reserved seats through IRCTC website, officials said Thursday.
The operation was spread across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi, they said.
“During searches, digital devices, mobile phones containing the illegal software, incriminating documents and other details including tickets of passengers booked earlier using illegal software were recovered, ” the CBI Spokesperson said.

The CBI had registered the case on March 2, 2021 against unidentified person who were claiming to provide confirmed ‘tatkal’ seats (emergency tickets) using a software and mobile application, they said.
“It was found that the agents were allegedly using illegal software to bypass the manual entry process for purchasing tickets, which were sold to travellers at a premium. The CBI identified the agents involved in this illegal activity and conducted simultaneous searches. The person responsible for selling and distributing the illegal software to various agents was also identified,” the CBI Spokesperson said.
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#CBI #searches #locations #illegal #sale #reserved #railway #seats

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 20, 2023
AP: CID conducts searches at 7 branches of Margadarsi Chit Funds

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Andhra Pradesh: The Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday conducted search operations at seven branches of the Margadarsi Chit Funds Private Limited (MCFPL) across the State.
“These search operations were undertaken as part of an investigation into the cases registered by AP-CID against seven branches of MCFPL under sections 420, 409, 120(B), 477(A) read with 34 IPC and Sec 5 of APPDFE Act-1999 and Sec 76, 79 of Chit Funds Act 1982,” an official release stated.
During the searches, the book of accounts and documents including electronic documents pertaining to the case were scrutinized, the release stated.

Further investigation is underway, it stated.
Earlier on March 28, the Andhra Pradesh’s CID served notices to Cherukuri Ramoji Rao, the Chairman of Margadarsi Chit Fund Private Limited and his daughter-in-law and Managing Director Sailaja Cherukuri in connection with the Chit fund scam.
As per the notice, the said persons have been asked to be present at their residence/office on March 29 or March 31 or April 3 or April 6 and cooperate with the investigation.
Last November, Andhra Pradesh’s Registration and Stamps Department said that there have been malpractices in the functioning of chit fund companies in the state and show cause notice would be issued to those who have violated the rules.
V Ramakrishna, Inspector General (Registration and Stamps Department) had said forensic auditing will be carried out in Margadarshi chit fund companies at a press conference.

The official had said that the Stamps and Registrations Regulatory Authority will be the nodal agency for chit-fund institutions and carry out regular inspections.
He had said the department conducted inspections at 12 chit fund companies on October 21, five organisations were inspected on October 31 and 18 units were inspected on November 15. He had said a total of 35 units have been inspected.
Ramakrishna had said that irregularities included using money borrowed through chit fund for “other purposes”
“Showcause notices will be issued to companies that have violated the rules, including the guidelines of the company. We will take further action after getting the reply to the show cause notices,” he had said.
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#CID #conducts #searches #branches #Margadarsi #Chit #Funds
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 20, 2023
FCRA violation: CBI registers FIR against Oxfam India, searches its office

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New Delhi: The CBI registered an FIR against Oxfam India and its office-bearers for alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act and carried out searches at its office here, officials said on Wednesday.
The FIR against the Indian arm of the global NGO Oxfam was registered based on a complaint from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The complaint, which is now part of the FIR, has alleged that though Oxfam India’s FCRA registration ceased, it planned to circumvent the law by taking other routes to channelise funds.

“Email communication found during IT (income tax) survey by the CBDT shows that Oxfam India has been planning to pressure Indian government for renewal of FCRA through foreign governments and foreign institutions,” it alleged.
“The Oxfam India has the reach and influence to request multilateral foreign organisations to intervene on its behalf with the Government of India,” it alleged.
The complaint alleged that this exposed Oxfam India as “a probable instrument of foreign policy of foreign organisations or entities” which have funded it liberally over the years.
It alleged that Oxfam India routed funds of its foreign affiliates such as Oxfam Australia and Oxfam Great Britain to certain NGOs and exercised control over the project.
“From the email found during IT survey by the CBDT it appears that Oxfam India is providing funds to the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) through its associates/ employees in the form of commission. The same is also reflected from the TDS data of Oxfam India which shows payment of Rs 12.71 lakh to CPR in the F.Y. 2019-20…,” the complaint has alleged.

It said the organisation got FCRA registration to carry out social activities but payment made to the Delhi-based think tank CPR through its associates or employees in the form of commission — professional or technical services — is not in the line with its stated objectives.
“This is violation of section 8 & 12(4) of the FCRA 2010,” it alleged.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out searches at the office of Oxfam India in Delhi Wednesday, officials said.
In a statement earlier this month, Oxfam India said it is fully compliant with Indian laws.
“Oxfam India is fully compliant with Indian laws and has filed all its statutory compliances, including Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) returns, in a timely manner since its inception. Oxfam India has been cooperating with all government agencies since its FCRA registration wasn’t renewed in December 2021,” the NGO said.
The group has filed a plea in the Delhi High Court against the decision to not renew its FCRA registration, it said.
“In times of growing inequality and greater need for action on poverty eradication, Oxfam India has been and will continue to work in Public and National interest. Oxfam India believes this is our constitutional duty as an organisation, irrespective of obstacles and hurdles in the path,” it had said.
The CBI in its FIR registered on Tuesday also alleged that Oxfam India continued to pay sub grants to various partners even after coming into force of FCR Amendment Act, 2020 which prohibited such transfers.
“The FCRA Amendment Act, 2020 (section 7 of the FCRA, 2010), states that FCRA registered association would not be entitled to transfer or sub grant any of the FC to other organization whether registered or unregistered under the FCRA, 2010. The amendment came in force from September 29, 2020. Oxfam India transferred funds to its partner NGOs, violating section 7 of the FCRA, 2010,” it said.
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#FCRA #violation #CBI #registers #FIR #Oxfam #India #searches #office
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 19, 2023