Transaction of Rs 1 crore detected in bank accounts opened using fake documents, say police
The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Uttar Pradesh police has arrested 10 people, who it claims were linked with Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba and allegedly involved in terror funding.
The arrests were made after searches in Gorakhpur, Lucknow and Pratapgarh (all in Uttar Pradesh) and Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, said ATS Inspector General Asim Arun.
"There are two types of people involved. Some of them were in touch with Pakistan-based handlers on the phone. They clearly knew they were into anti-national activities. They, in turn, involved more people by asking them to get fake identification documents to open bank accounts. Such people knew they were into a crime at the local level. Indian agents used to get 10 to 20 per cent commission for this," Mr Arun told reporters.
Claiming that transactions worth Rs 1 crore had so far been detected in the accounts opened using fake documents, police said Rs 52 lakh has been recovered.
Calling it a "terror enabling" infrastructure, Mr Arun said it is not necessary that each of the monetary transactions was linked to terror. "Illegal money flow has taken place from Nepal, Pakistan and Qatar but the operation was controlled by Pakistan-based handlers," he added.
Asked whether any particular terrorist module had been funded by this network, Mr Arun said it was a subject matter of investigation.
Fifty phones and laptops have been recovered, the ATS chief said a detailed probe will be done and more arrests were likely. "We are investigating where the money came from and where it went," added Mr Arun.
He identified the arrested men as Naseem Ahmad, Naeem Arshad, Sanjay Saroj, Niraj Mishra, Sahil Masih, Uma Pratap Singh, Mukesh Prasad, Nikhil Rai alias Musharraf Ansari, Ankur Rai and Dayanand Yadav.