Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told the assembly on Tuesday that hawala money transfers amounting to Rs 10,000 crore a year have been happening in the state for the past several years.
The minister told a stunned house that anti-national forces were behind many of these illegal deals.
The minister was making a statement in the light of the High Court’s stinging criticism of the state police last week for its careless handling of a case involving a clash between a hawala gang and goondas at Kondotty in Malappuram.
The fact that Rs 10,000 crore exceeds the state’s plan outlay as well as its tax returns speak volumes of the gravity of the situation. A sizeable quantum of this money is feared to be financing the real estate “boom” in the state as well as anti-national activities.
Vital clues
Mr Balakrishnan said the people behind these deals also traded in counterfeit currency and many of them had criminal backgrounds and links with international drug dealers.
Mr Balakrishnan said the recent arrests in the Kondotty hawala case had thrown up some vital clues regarding the operation of these gangs.
A four-member high-level police monitoring team has been established to deal with the cases and also coordinate with the central agencies.
The minister’s statement was based on inputs provided by the state police, intelligence agencies as well as Directorate of Revenue Intelligence based on several recent incidents.
It has thrown light on a well-oiled network of hawala carriers existing in the state with national and international links.
Mr Balakrishnan said in the last few years, there have been instances of counterfeit currency seizures as well as arrest of carriers in the state.
Rs 60 lakh seized
On Tuesday itself, hawala money worth Rs 60 lakh was seized from two persons at Sultanbathery in Wayanad. Currency worth crores of rupees have been unearthed from passengers arriving at the Kozhikode airport in the past.
The arrest of Kasargod-based international hawala dealer K M Abdulla at Colombo as well as that of film producer Bechu Rehman early this year exposed the gravity of the problem.
