Hawala racket: Court extends city-based trader’s custody by 2 days

PK Jaiswar

Amritsar, May 17

The local court on Friday extended the police remand of Manik Arora by two days. He was arrested by the police along with hawala money two days ago. Today, he was produced in a court after expiry of his police remand.

“We have identified several persons based in Delhi and Amritsar, who are part of the hawala racket. They transfer money on the directions of their Pakistan-based handlers,” said a senior police official. A police team would be sent to Delhi to arrest Arora’s accomplices, he said.

Satinder Singh, SSP, Amritsar (Rural), said, “The court has extended the police custody of Manik Arora by two days for further interrogation. His backward and forward links are being established to expose the entire hawala racket.”

Manik Arora, who had an undergarments shop at the IDH market, was arrested by the police on Wednesday. An amount of Rs 19.26 lakh hawala money and a cash counting machine was recovered from him. He was allegedly a part of the racket involved in trans-border weapons and drug smuggling. The module is headed by Pakistan-based smuggler known by the name Qasim Dhillon. Arora, a resident of Chand Avenue, had sent Rs 1.12 crore to his Delhi-based accomplices. — TNS