The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday evening said it has provisionally attached movable assets worth Rs 17.66 crore of Amnesty International India and others. The action was taken after the agency began an investigation on the basis of a Central Bureau of Investigation complaint.

“ED has provisionally attached movable properties worth Rs 17.66 crores in case of M/s Amnesty International India Private Limited and others,” the agency’s official account tweeted.

The organisation has been accused of money laundering and criminal conspiracy, according to Times Now.

In September, the human rights organisation alleged that it was being forced to shut its operations as the Indian government had frozen its bank accounts. The group said its “lawful fundraising model” was being portrayed as money laundering because Amnesty India had challenged the “government’s grave inactions and excesses”.

The Centre had last year accused the group of violating foreign funding laws, and called its allegations unfortunate, exaggerated and “far from the truth”. Amnesty’s “glossy statements” about humanitarian work and speaking truth to power were nothing but a “ploy to divert attention” from their activities, which were in “clear contravention” of Indian laws, it had said. The government accused the group of trying to “extraneously influence” the investigations by multiple agencies into the alleged irregularities and illegalities carried out by it.