Fund squeeze: How NIA is dashing real estate dreams of naxals, terrorists, gangsters

In a recent action, the NIA attached 152 bank accounts belonging to naxalites. The agency also found one mutual fund account to the tune of Rs 20.6 crore

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has undertaken several major operations in recent years and one among them is attaching the properties of extremists.

The NIA has attached properties of Left Wing extremists, those belonging to gangsters in Punjab, ones owned by the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and also properties held by terrorists in Jammu And Kashmir.

While dealing with terrorists or naxalites, it is not enough if arrests and subsequent investigations are made. It is very important to squeeze the funding as money remains a major ideology for a lot many of them, explains an official to OneIndia.

If one takes a look at the recent development relating to the naxalites, the NIA attached 152 bank accounts and mutual fund accounts relating to them. The NIA said that it attached 152 bank accounts, including special term deposit receipts and one SBI mutual fund account holding Rs 20.6 crore. All this money was being used to fund Left Wing terror, the NIA said.

The naxalites had a close nexus with a construction firm and the owner of the same had provided the funds to the naxalites, the NIA learnt. Naxalites also raise money through extortion and all those proceeds were deposited in these accounts and were meant to be used in terror operations against the security forces.

The NIA also recently conducted raids at 76 different locations in connection with Punjab's gangster-nexus case. Five properties owned by organised syndicates were attached by the NIA. The NIA said that the properties attached were found to be proceeds of terrorism and were used to hatch conspiracies and execution of crimes. The properties included a house of one Asif Khan in Delhi, a house and agriculture land in three different locations which belonged to one Surender Singh in Haryana.

It was also learnt that the Surender was instrumental in investing the proceeds of terror and crime in real estate and other businesses.

Recently the NIA also attached the properties of terrorists operating from Pakistan. The properties of the The Resistence Front terrorist Basit Ahmed Reshi was attached by the NIA in north Kashmir's Baramulla.

The death of separatism in Jammu and Kashmir is also linked to the squeezing of funds by both the NIA and Enforcement Directorate. It is important to squeeze the funding as this eventually leads to the death of a movement, another official explained. Most of them operate for the sake of money and large amount of funds have also been diverted by terrorists and separatists to finance their luxuries. It has been found that the children of many separatists are studying at plus schools abroad. One such case is that of lady separatist, Asiya Andrabi. While she would encourage stone pelting in Jammu and Kashmir, her son would practise cricket in peace at Malaysia.

Further many of these persons have been largely affected due to the tightening by the Union Government when it came to foreign funding. It was found by the Ministry of Home Affairs that many NGOs had mushroomed to collect foreign funding. Most of them never used it for the purpose the money was being sent. It was diverted to fund terrorism, urban naxalism and separatism. Hence it is important to any probe that the follow up action must be in form of attaching properties as that acts as a major deterrent to carrying out such activities, the official cited above also said.