India must stop its "witch hunt" against civil society groups under the pretext of tackling money laundering or terrorism financing, Amnesty International has said following a report by a global money laundering watchdog.

The global anti-money laundering watchdog, the financial Action Task Force (FATF) urged India on Thursday to speed up its prosecutions in financial fraud cases. The 40-member FATF, established in 1989,

India must stop its "witch hunt" against civil society groups under the pretext of tackling money laundering or terrorism financing, Amnesty International has said following a report by a global money-laundering watchdog.

The Financial Action Task Force has acknowledged India's efforts but called for reducing pending money laundering cases and significant changes in prosecuting terror financing. The report highlights threats from extremist groups and stresses the need for better regulation of non-profits to prevent their misuse for terrorist financing.

FATF also said India has to improve the implementation of cash restrictions by dealers in precious metals and stones as a priority.

Global anti-money laundering and terror financing body FATF on Thursday launched its much-awaited mutual evaluation report on India, saying the county's systems were "effective" but "major improvements" were required to strengthen prosecution in these cases.