ED attaches assets worth ₹6.34L in SIMI, IM linked terror funding case

The accused are alleged to have withdrawn the cash amounts immediately and handed over to certain people on the instructions of Khalid and Sao

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said it has attached fresh assets worth Rs 6.34 lakh as part of a money laundering investigation against banned terrorist groups SIMI and IM.

The immovable properties that have been attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) belong to accused Raju Khan, the federal probe agency said in a statement.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR filed by Chhattisgarh Police in Raipur against a man named Dheeraj Sao and some others under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The FIR alleged that certain bank accounts were being used to receive funds from unknown persons in India on the instructions of an entity named "Khalid of Pakistan", and the amounts received were being transferred to Zubair Hussain, Aysha Banu and Raju Khan, alleged members of banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Indian Mujahideen (IM).

Sao, it was alleged by the ED, was engaged in "misusing" multiple bank accounts, at the behest of Khalid, to "divert" cash funds received from different sources.

"These funds were routed to accounts of Zubair Hussain, Aysha Banu and others, either directly or through multiple layering," the ED said.

Raju Khan was one of the "key" conduits in this network, according to the agency.

He is alleged to have withdrawn the cash amounts immediately and handed over to certain people on the instructions of Khalid and Sao.

Analysis of his bank accounts found that cash of more than Rs 48 lakh was deposited in his account by the above syndicate and, out of this, he "transferred" over Rs 42 lakh in cash to other persons linked with SIMI and IM after retaining a commission (proceeds of crime) of about 13 per cent (about Rs 6.34 lakh), the ED said.

Assets worth about Rs 3 lakh were attached by the ED in this investigation earlier.