Rana Ayyub who is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, was today stopped at the Mumbai airport while on her way to London based on a Lookout Circular issued by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case.

“I was stopped today at the Indian immigration while I was about to board my flight to London to deliver my speech on the intimidation of journalists with International Center for Journalists. I was to travel to Italy right after to deliver the keynote address at the journalism festival on the Indian democracy,” the self-proclaimed journalist tweeted.

Screengrab of the tweet by Rana Ayyub

“All these events with Dr. Julie Posetti, Doughty Street International and the journalism festival have been planned and publicised all over my social media for weeks. Yet, curiously the Enforcement directorate summon arrived in my mail much after I was stopped at the immigration. What do you fear?” she further said.

Ayyub has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate on April 1 for questioning in connection with the case. In February, the financial probe agency had attached Rs 1.77 crore belonging to the journalist. She had allegedly set aside Rs 50 lakh from Rs 2.77 crore she had raised for relief work to open a fixed deposit (FD) account in her name, the agency had found.

The agency suspects that Ayyub had salted away the amount for her personal expenses. The ED, which began a probe based on an FIR by the Uttar Pradesh Police, had earlier summoned Rana Ayyub on December 15, 2021 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as part of the probe.

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