Terror financing: ED files charges against 2 Hizb operatives

The ED has filed a charge sheet against two operatives of terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen on charges of money laundering and terrorist financing in Jammu and Kashmir.
The duo, identified as Mubarak Ali and Inayatullah Wani, are residents of Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district and were arrested by local police few years back in the state with Rs 5.4 lakh cash that was suspected to be illegal funds to be handed over to an active Hizb terrorist in the valley, Gulam Nabi alias Javed Qureshi.
The charge sheet, the agency said, was filed on March 14 before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Jammu.

The agency said both Ali and Wani were "overground" workers of the terror group and were "involved and helping in a well-planned conspiracy to increase terrorist activities in the area of Doda district" by allegedly carrying the cash for Qureshi after receiving it from an "unknown terrorist in Srinagar".
"Accused Ali worked as labour contractor and Wani was a member of the Village Defence Committee of the area," the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement.
The ED had last year attached the said cash calling it the "proceeds of crime" of terrorist financing under PMLA.

"In the course of investigation, Ali took plea that the seized money was carried by him and his maternal cousin Wani for his (Ali's) treatment of mouth cancer but during investigation, the doctor who was treating Ali stated that he was not suffering from mouth cancer and the treatment given to him was completely free of charge as the patient was advised for treatment at government hospital," the agency said.

It said the doctor "further stated that had the treatment been given in private clinic it would have cost him a maximum of Rs 10,000. The doctor further denied to have advised Ali that the treatment would cost around Rs 5-6 lakh".
"Thus, from the statement of the doctor it was established that the purpose of seized proceeds of crime was for militancy, as alleged in the FIR, and not for medical treatment as claimed.
"On the issue of source of seized money too, the accused persons could not justify the genuine source of seized amount," it seized.
This is one of the rare cases where the central probe agency for financial crimes has filed a charge sheet in a case of terror financing in the country.

It had taken a similar action against Tariq Ahmed Dar in the 2005 Delhi blasts case.