ED raids 16 locations across 4 states in money laundering probe linked to alleged infiltration network
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted searches at 16 locations across Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, and Haryana in connection with a money laundering investigation into alleged terror funding and an illegal infiltration network.
The ED said it recovered Rs 40 lakh in cash and gold coins weighing 180 gm from a madrasa, Al-Jamiatul Islamia Darul Uloom, in Haroa, North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal. According to an official, the madrasa management and staff could not provide a satisfactory explanation for the legal source of the cash and coins.
Findings from the other 15 premises are being compiled and will be shared later. The searches, which continued until late Thursday night, also led to the seizure of bank records and digital devices that are being examined.
The searches were carried out by the ED's Lucknow Zonal Office under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), based on an FIR lodged by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in 2024. The ATS had registered the FIR against a syndicate allegedly facilitating the illegal infiltration of Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals into India.
The ATS uncovered the syndicate after arresting Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals who were allegedly living in India without valid documents and using Indian identity papers obtained illegally. The syndicate is said to have operated across West Bengal, Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and several districts of Uttar Pradesh, arranging forged identity documents and helping infiltrators settle in these states.
Based on ATS inputs, the ED is investigating an alleged financial network involving some charitable trusts, organisations, and groups. These entities are suspected of having received substantial foreign contributions, which were allegedly diverted through multiple bank accounts and layered transactions to facilitate illegal activities, including terror funding and helping infiltrators find jobs, start businesses, and engage in other trades. The investigation has also indicated the use of cash withdrawals and small-value bank transfers to suspected beneficiaries.
The probe began with the arrest of a Bangladesh national, Mohammad alias Adil-ur-Rehman, in Varanasi four years ago. The UP ATS arrested him for allegedly infiltrating the country and obtaining fake identity documents such as Aadhaar and PAN cards. The FIR named 10 accused.
During interrogation, Adil reportedly revealed that two other Bangladesh nationals, Sheikh Najib-ul-Haque and Abu Huraira, were living in the Deoband area of Saharanpur district and had received help from the same syndicate. The ATS investigation claimed that NGOs in Delhi and Haryana and madrasas in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh were part of the syndicate involved in human trafficking and forging identity documents, posing a threat to national security and communal harmony.
The ATS filed seven chargesheets after lodging the FIR in October 2023 against the arrested accused, most of whom had obtained bail. The FIR was under charges of human trafficking, forgery for cheating, conspiracy, and sections of the Foreigners Act and Passport Act.
