Terror suspects got 'hawala money', says Bengaluru police commissioner

The four suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives, arrested by the Bengaluru police last week, are said to have received money through hawala channel from their handlers abroad to carry out “terror activities” in the country.

The police, who are interrogating the four suspects, have reportedly collected critical leads to establish that the hawala money was used for terror activities across India.

“We have collected crucial information from all the four during the interrogation. The four acted on the instructions they received from their handlers based in a foreign country,” Police Commissioner M N Reddi said on Monday.

Syed Ismail Afaq, 34, Saddam Hussein, 35, Abdus Subur, 25, and Riyaz Ahmed Sayeedi, 32, all from Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district, are currently in police custody.

Reddi said that the terror suspects’ “handlers” would issue them instructions regarding the sources to be contacted for the supply of explosives and other sources where raw materials were available to prepare explosives. “The financial transactions for all these activities were made through hawala channel,” he claimed.

The police are ascertaining the involvement of local men in the transfer of hawala money. The four suspected IM operatives allegedly played an important role in the preparation and supply of crude bombs.

One of them was even “trained abroad” in the preparation of crude bombs. All the four received “money from a foreign country” but never received explosives from abroad, Reddi said.

“There are reports that Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district was the major hub from where explosives and bombs were supplied to carry out terror attacks across the country since 2010. Hence, the police are quizzing them to gather more information,” he added.

Probe on
The commissioner stated that the Bengaluru police collected details regarding various terror attacks across the country and the links of the four suspected with terror groups.
Many of the suspected terrorists are said to have left Bhatkal after the arrests of the four men.

The Central Crime Branch (CCB), the Internal Security Division and Central agencies and the police of other states are on the lookout for them.