NEW DELHI: From raising money from ISIS sympathisers and sending funds to Syria to transferring remunerations to operatives and recruits in India by terrorist outfits operating from transnational borders, crypto wallets are being widely used by disruptors and terrorists for fund movements in the Indian region.
Recent investigations by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have revealed that Crypto wallets are being widely used by terror operatives and handlers.
With hawala and other traditional illegal routes being watched closely by authorities, crypto channels have been established between foreign terror handlers and outfits with recruits, operatives and fundraisers here in India.
In a chargesheet filed at a special court in New Delhi’s Partial House last week, the NIA submitted that Mohammad Mohsin Ahmad a resident from Patna, Bihar, was involved in raising funds for ISIS from the ISIS sympathizers in India and sending the collected funds to his Syria based ISIS handlers through Crypto-currency channels, thereby supporting the ISIS in furtherance of its terrorist activities.
He was arrested after a case against him was registered in June last year for influencing Indian youths and radicalising them through support from ISIS.
The investigation led to the revelations about the financial transactions between him and his handlers using crypto channels.
Like Ahmad, Reshaan Thajuddin Sheikh of Udupi district and Huzair Farhan Baig of Shivamogga district were arrested by NIA in the first week of January 2023, on suspicion of alleged links with terror outfits and they were involved in radicalising the youth. Investigations revealed that Sheikh and Baig received funds from their ISIS handler through crypto-wallets for furthering the terrorist activities of the Islamic State.
The entry of terrorist organisations into the metaverse space is a matter of concern, said an official of the Home Ministry. “The fact that terrorists are increasingly using the darknet to spread radical content, tapping it for financial transactions by concealing their identities is a challenge and our new area of focus,” he said adding “Understanding and tracking the use of virtual assets like cryptocurrency and mapping the patterns of these darknet activities are now our top priority.”
Officials of counter-terror agencies have also made representations before the MHA seeks a ban on cryptocurrency completely.
“They have also sought strict monitoring platforms and nodes of cryptocurrency trade and crypto wallet activities in India’ sources said adding, “for this purpose, decentralised surveillance units should be set up by financial intelligence wings at strategic locations which can be monitored from a central control room.”