Lashkar’s hawala network: Nepali currency adds new dimension to probe

New Delhi, Oct 3: In furtherance of its probe following the busting of a terror funding module, the National Investigation Agency raided various places including the residence of a businessman from Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir.

The investigation being conducted following the busting of a Falah-e-Insaniyat module in Delhi has the led the National Investigation Agency to several other states.

The NIA has learnt that some Delhi based individuals were receiving funds from the FIF operatives. This money in turn was used fund terror related activities.

During the raids the NIA has recovered Rs 1 crore in cash and Rs 40,000 in Nepali currency. The discovery of the Nepali currency has added a new dimension to the probe.

The NIA it may be recalled had arrested Mohammad Salman, Mohammad Salim and Sajjad Abdul Wani, residents of Srinagar.

NIA sources tell OneIndia that while the money would land from foreign nations into Delhi first, it would be channelised through various other states. One such link has emerged in Rajasthan. The source also said that it was Salman who was in touch with a Dubai based Pakistani national, who is closely associated with the deputy chief of the FIF.

NIA officials say that these are the channels through which money would make it to the other states. Our investigations have found that while the money made its direct landfall into Delhi, it would be go to other places through the various hawala dealers present in other state.

One of the main states through which the funds would move into the other states such as Jammu and Kashmir was Rajasthan. Earlier the NIA had busted a funding racket between Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir. At that time it was found that the money was being moved in empty cylinders.

However after the busting of that route, the hawala dealers have found other states through which they move the money into different places. The money would finally reach terror groups.

The discovery of the Rajasthan module has led the local cops to step up the heat. One Mohammad Salim was arrested on September 25 and the NIA suspects that he was the main mover of the cash. He had shifted to Delhi several years back, but gradually built up a network in Rajasthan.

NIA sources also suspect that the money that reached the Falah-e-Insaniyat module in Delhi from Dubai may not have been limited for internal purposes alone. The money could have been channelised from Dubai to India following which it could have moved into Pakistan as well. The FIF is the financial wing of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.