'Ayesha Bano routed Rs 5 crore in a year'

Preliminary investigation suggests that Man galore couple Ayesha Bano and Zubair, who were arrested on Tuesday in connection with the Patna blasts, had allegedly transacted `5 crore Hawala money to terror networks, a police official told Express.

Preliminary investigation suggests that Man galore couple Ayesha Bano and Zubair, who were arrested on Tuesday in connection with the Patna blasts, had allegedly transacted `5 crore Hawala money to terror networks, a police official told Express.

The probe revealed that the four accused arrested in Patna had transferred hawala money to Ayesha’s accounts and she along with her husband withdrew and transferred it to other accounts.

Investigation is underway to find out whom the couple transferred the `5 crore they received in the past one year.

The police seized documents pertaining to eight bank accounts, six passbooks and several sim cards from Ayesha’s house in Panjimogaru in Mangalore.

They also found that the couple had withdrawn `49,000 in one transaction and credited it later to other accounts. Transactions were kept below `50,000 to avoid giving details about PAN number.

A senior police official said Ayesha’s name came up following the arrest of a few persons, including a few Hindu youths, for allegedly having a contact with a hawala racket operated from Pakistan.

The police will have to establish the connection between Hawala racket and the Indian Mujahideen, the group which allegedly carried out the Patna blasts.

“Though it is unlikely that Indian Mujahidden would use a bank transaction for fund transfer, the investigation is still on,” official said.

Most youths arrested in this connection had agreed to open an account for a 10-15 percentage to allow transfer of cash through their accounts, an official said.

Ayesha, who hails from Madikeri in Coorg, had converted to Islam after she was married to Zubair from Mangalore, who is suspected to have contacts with people involved in hawala money racket.

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The New Indian Express
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