Hawala funds: Former militant arrested in Rajouri

In its attempt to curtail the flow of hawala money to militants operating in the Kashmir Valley, the state police have arrested one more person from Rajouri district.
Former militant Qaiser Sajjad Mir was held from Thana Mandi area of Rajouri yesterday.
Qaiser's arrest came two days after Farooq Ahmad was arrested by the police along with Rs 95,000 hawala money from the same area.
"We have arrested Qaiser Sajjad Mir from Thana Mandi area yesterday. His arrest comes after Farooq Ahmad revealed his involvement in distributing the hawala money to the militant outfits in the state," Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Thanamandi, Majid-ur-Rehman, said today.

Qaiser, 35, is the vice-chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement (JKPM) and a former militant, who had been earlier detained under the Public safety Act (PSA).
Farooq, during questioning has revealed that Qaiser's father and former militant G A Mir played an instrumental role in the distribution of the money as it was through him that the amount was diverted to the different militant outfits of the state, the officer said.

He added that during the investigations it came to the fore that the money originated from Pakistan and was routed to the state through Saudi Arabia.
"Farooq has one of his cousin's based in Saudi Arabia, named Almar. He used to get the money from one Dr Majid Malik in Pakistan. Almar then used to route that money to Farooq, who in turn forwarded it to Mir," the officer said.

The father-son duo over the years have received lakhs of rupees in their account and distributed it to different militant organisations after keeping their share of the money, he said.
"Majeed Malik, on the other hand, is a former terrorist from district Rajouri who is now settled in Pakistan and is an important clog in the circulation of hawala money," Rehman said.
The officer, meanwhile, said that investigations were on in the case.