Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Oct 21: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had directed various State Governments including Jammu and Kashmir to extend full cooperation to all Central investigating agencies including National Investigating Agency (NIA) to tackle terrorism, money laundering and flow of hawala money.
The Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI), NIA, Enforcement Directorate etc have been investigating various terrorist related cases including funding to the terror outfits through hawala channels and other sources of financial transactions, both legal and illegal.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the MHA directive for full cooperation to the Central investigating agencies was aimed at initiating coordinated efforts to block hawala channels of the terrorists across the country including Jammu and Kashmir.
As multiple agencies were engaged in the efforts to block hawala channels and other sources of money laundering to the militants, their sympathizers and, in some cases, hardcore criminals also, the MHA wanted that entire information pertaining to such channels should be shared with the Central agencies in addition to carrying out own investigations.
Police forces in all the States would be free to investigate the cases of money laundering and flow of hawala money on their own. However, they could share such information with NIA or Enforcement Directorate if the hawala channel had international links as these agencies would be more equipped not only to block the channels but also to catch hold of the persons involved in sending the hawala money to the militants.
Sources here said since Jammu and Kashmir State was worst affected by flow of hawala funds to separatist leaders, police here had been working on several cases on flow of funds to separatists, militants leaders and sympathizers of Pakistan and its sponsored militancy.
They added that in addition to Jammu and Kashmir, the MHA had reports of money laundering and hawala funding in various other States including New Delhi, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
“It was mainly on the basis of hawala funds generated from Pakistan, Gulf and some other foreign countries that the militancy was being sustained in most parts of the country mainly Jammu and Kashmir”, sources said, adding that major effort of the MHA and the Central agencies were aimed at blocking the hawala channels in cooperation with the State Governments to curb residual militancy”, sources said.
They were of the view that support of the State Governments and police forces to the national investigating agency would be very useful in unearthing and blocking hawala channels, both legal and illegal. Some of the agencies had recently detected that hawala money was flowing to the terrorists not only through illegal means but also through legal money transactions.
In the recent past, flow of hawala funds had also been detected through cross-LoC trade routes of Poonch-Rawlakote and Uri-Muzaffarabad. There were a number of instances in which the traders here had received goods in excess than what they exported to other side. Money generated through rest of the goods had been used for funding the terrorists.
However, the hawala channels have been blocked to the best possible extent on both cross-LoC trade routes, sources said.
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