With the arrest of five Popular Front of India operatives from Kasargod and Dakshin Kannada on Tuesday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has busted a large hawala network operating out of Bihar and Karnataka, with its roots in the United Arab Emirates, to move PFI’s funds.
The bust was part of the NIA’s probe into the movement of the PFI funds across the country, especially in Kerala, Karnataka and Bihar, and the Phulwari Sharif terror module in Bihar, according to top NIA sources.
The five arrested were found to be actively involved in the PFI’s criminal conspiracy to move and channelise illicit funds procured from outside India for distribution among leaders and cadre, they added.
The PFI cadre in Phulwari Sharif and Motihari had vowed to continue 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 were arrested on February 5. Earlier in this case, seven accused were arrested when they had gathered in Phulwari Sharif area of Patna in July last year for training to carry out acts of terror and violence.
THE SEARCHES
The NIA teams have been carrying out extensive searches in Kerala’s Kasargod and Dakshin Kannada in Karnataka since Sunday. 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.
The NIA team had found that despite the PFI being banned on September 27, 2022, the PFI and its leaders/cadre continued to propagate the ideology of violent extremism and were also arranging arms and ammunition.
THE FIVE ARRESTED ACCUSED
- Mahammad Sinan, s/o Hamad, r/o Panepmanglore, Dakshin Kannada, Karnataka
- Sarfraz Nawaz, s/o Abdul Rahman r/o Sajipamuda, Dakshin Kannada, Karnataka
- Iqbal, s/o Abdul Khadar r/o Panepmanglore, Dakshin Kannada, Karnataka
- Abdul Rafeek M, s/o Mahammad Byari R/o Puttur Talluk, Dakshin Kannada, Karnataka
- Abid K M, S/o late Abu Hazi K, r/o Kunjuthur, Kasaragod, Kerala
HOW THEY WERE CAUGHT
The money trail led the NIA investigators to Nawaz and Sinan, who had been found making deposits in the bank accounts of accused and suspects in the PFI case.
Connecting the dots, the NIA managed to unravel the international conspiracy and linkages to the funds while investigating Iqbal and other associates who had collected illegally generated funds from Dubai and Abu Dhabi and handed them over to Sinan, Nawaz, Rafeek and Abid in India. Investigations showed that Nawaz, Sinan and Rafeek deposited this money in different bank accounts of accused and the suspects.
These five accused will be produced in NIA Special Court in Patna. Further investigations are on to track, trace and choke international as well domestic illicit funding channels of the banned PFI, said sources.
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