The Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out searches at several locations linked to the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), including its headquarters in New Delhi and state offices across the country. These raids were part of a money laundering investigation and followed the recent arrest of SDPI's national president, MK Faizy, on Tuesday. The operation covered 12 locations, including Thiruvananthapuram and Malappuram in Kerala, Bengaluru, Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh, Thane, Chennai, Pakur in Jharkhand, Kolkata, Lucknow, and Jaipur. 

Officials confirmed that searches were taking place at SDPI’s national headquarters and other sites in the National Capital Region. The ED action follows the agency's earlier claim of an "organic" connection between the SDPI and the banned Popular Front of India (PFI). In September 2022, the union government banned PFI and declared it an unlawful organisation due to its involvement in terrorist operations. The ED has claimed that the PFI used SDPI, a Delhi-based organisation that was established in 2009, to carry out its illegal operations. The SDPI, a registered political party with the Election Commission of India, has often been accused of being the political wing of the PFI. The recent ED crackdown has increased attention on the organisation's financial activities and its suspected links to the banned group. 

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju justified the ED raids on SDPI offices, stating that enforcement agencies take action based on specific facts and figures. Facing the questions raised by reporters about the Enforcement Directorate's raids at various SDPI’s offices throughout the country, Rijiju said, "All the actions by the enforcement agencies are based on certain facts and figures which I can't comment on, " said Rijiju while responding to a query. The Union minister visited Thiruvananthapuram to attend the regional review meeting and training workshop on the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) for the southern states and union territories.

Speaking on action against SDPI, Rijiju said that any action taken against illegal activities should not be seen as a communal matter or given a communal perspective, whether it involves PFI or any other organisation. "If anybody has committed a mistake, crime or breached the law, action is on the basis of the provisions in the law, and it's not based on who belongs to which community?" the Union Minister said. So the investigating agencies and other agencies are active, and they are doing their job, he added. "I have no specific thing to offer as a comment because I have come here for developmental works, and I have not been briefed about the cases which you are referring to," he told reporters.