The anti-terrorism squad (ATS) of Mumbai police has traced the terroristsÂ’ finances in 7/11 blasts to huge remittances from the UK, but the | Sleuths could find conclusive evidence of the trail only up to Saudi Arabia and West Asia, where 25,000 Riyals were found from an LeT commander, Faisal Shiekh. |
The cops believe that the money was sent to Faisal by another suspect, Rizwan Dawre, through Hawala channels via the West Asian route, but sourced from patrons in the UK. An ATS official pointed out,
| “We could trace the trail to Saudi Arabia and Dubai, but have not yet been able to gather any conclusive evidence on links with the UK although we do suspect a substantial amount of funding come from immigrants there.” |
However, with the latest tie-up with the UK police and intelligence officials, Mumbai police hope to gather enough evidence to track these sources of funding. A UK police official said, “Hawaladars (Hawala operators) in the UK are said to be forming a hawala triangle with Dubai and Middle East (West Asia) to India and Pakistan for significant international money-laundering activities that finance terrorist activities in the subcontinent.”
An official of the UK-based Serious Organised Crime Agency said while Hawala is used by millions of immigrants as a legitimate form of remittance transfer, the system is being increasingly manipulated by organised crime and, in smaller volumes, by international terrorists. The agency has identified some dedicated money-laundering controllers who use the Hawala system to finance terror operations in South Asia. David Armond, head of SOCAÂ’s proceeds of crime unit, said organised crimes, including terrorism, uses money-laundering methods to finance terror activities and we have asked people to report any such suspicious activities to crack down on such operators.
| “Khan could call on millions of pounds raised in the UK to fund LeT activities. According to our intelligence, this money could have been used to procure and equipment used in Mumbai train attacks.” |
The clampdown on individuals and organisations with LeT links began last year after the Blair government promised to take stringent action against the UK nationals of Asian origin instrumental in funding Kashmiri militant organisations.