New Delhi: A 48-year-old man was arrested from Old Delhi’s Meena Bazar area Friday for allegedly working as a conduit for hawala money and delivering it to terror operatives in Jammu and Kashmir. The arrest was made following a joint operation conducted by the Delhi and J&K Police.
Police said 48-year-old Mohammed Yaseen worked as an agent in hawala transactions related to the funding of terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Al Badr.
According to the police, Yaseen allegedly gave Rs 10 lakh to another alleged J&K-based terror operative named Abdul Hamid Mir Wednesday (17 August). The J&K Police had registered a case under sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) Thursday, following which Mir was arrested and the entire amount recovered.
“Information was received from central agencies and J&K Police regarding a person involved in funding of terrorist activities operating from Meena Bazar, Delhi. Accordingly, a raiding team was constituted and deployed at and around Meena Bazar and Yaseen was apprehended,” HGS Dhaliwal, special commissioner of police (special cell), Delhi Police, said.
According to the police, Yaseen runs a garment business in Meena Bazar.
“He works as a conduit for hawala money, collecting funds received from sources based abroad and delivering it to terror operatives in Jammu and Kashmir. During questioning, the accused disclosed that the hawala money was being sent from South Africa to Surat and Mumbai,” Dhaliwal added.
He also said, “Yaseen had recently received Rs 24 lakh sent through hawala from South Africa, out of which he transferred Rs 17 lakh through different couriers to terror operatives in Jammu and Kashmir.”
While the Rs 10 lakh that Yaseen allegedly gave Mir was seized by the J&K Police, the remaining amount — Rs 17 lakh — was recovered from his house in Delhi’s Turkman Gate. Sources said there were no past cases against Yaseen.
Police also added that Yaseen was the hawala channel’s “Delhi link”.
The Special Cell team was led by Inspectors Sunil Kumar Rajain and Ravinder Joshi under the supervision of ACP Lalit Mohan Negi and ACP Hridaya Bhushan.
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