Hawala racket busted, 5 PFI men held

New Delhi, March 7

The NIA has busted a hawala network in south India and arrested five operatives linked to the Phulwarisharif terror module case. The arrests were made from Kerala and Karnataka.

With these arrests from Kasargod in Kerala and Dakshin Kannada in Karnataka, the NIA said a PFI funding-by-hawala module operating out of Bihar and Karnataka with roots in the United Arab Emirates had been busted.

The NIA identified the accused as Mohammad Sinan, Sarfraz Nawaz, Iqbal, Abdul Rafeek M and Abid KM Sivasankar.

“The accused were found to be actively involved in PFI’s criminal conspiracy to move and channel illicit funds procured from outside India for distribution among PFI leaders and cadres,” the NIA alleged.

Earlier in this case, seven accused were arrested when they had gathered in the Phulwarisharif area of Patna in July last year for training and to carry out acts of terror.

NIA teams had been carrying out extensive searches in Kasargod and Dakshin Kannada since Sunday, the NIA said, adding: “Searches were conducted at eight locations, leading to the seizure of multiple digital devices and incriminating documents containing details of transactions running into several crores of rupees.”

While tracing and tracking the funds, which were being moved by the PFI across the country, especially in Kerala, Karnataka and Bihar, the NIA said, “Its investigations into the Phulwarisharif PFI case of Bihar have led to the unearthing of a large network of hawala operatives in south India and their arrest from Karnataka.”

PFI cadres in Phulwarisharif and Motihari in Bihar had vowed to continue PFI activities in a clandestine manner in Bihar and had also arranged a firearm and ammunition recently to eliminate a youth of a particular community in Bihar’s East Champaran district. Three operatives of the module had been arrested on February 5 this year.

Pursuing the investigational leads since July 2022, the NIA team found that despite the ban on PFI imposed on September 27 last year, the PFI and its leaders and cadres continued to propagate the ideology of violent extremism and were also arranging arms and ammunition to commit crimes.

Funds procured from abroad

• The accused were ‘involved’ in PFI’s criminal conspiracy to move and channel illicit funds procured from outside India
• Searches were conducted at eight locations, leading to the seizure of multiple digital devices and incriminating documents