Hawala cash spirited away; 2 SIs & scribe among five held in Guwahati

 STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: In a case of robbers getting the better of thieves, five persons were apprehended by police on Thursday for spiriting away money from Hawala operators.

City police nabbed five persons, including a journalist and two sub-inspectors of police, and recovered an amount of Rs 37.8 lakh, that was spirited away from two hawala operators hailing from Rajasthan.

The incident on Thursday came several days after a police team raided a rented house at Athgaon in Guwahati and recovered a huge amount of cash. It subsequently came to light that a group reached the house even before the police team arrived there and disappeared with a large amount of cash. Later, the police team arrested two individuals hailing from Rajasthan and recovered an amount of around Rs 1.7 crore from them.

Taufiquddin Ahmed, a journalist claiming to work for a satellite channel, sub-inspectors Mubarak Ali and Anurag Bora of Bharalumukh Police Station, and two others, namely Khairul Haque and Little Khan, were apprehended on Thursday. Police recovered an amount of Rs 7.5 lakh from Khairul Haque of Hajo early on Thursday. His questioning by the police led to the seizure of Rs 4 lakh from Taufiquddin Ahmed and Rs 17.5 lakh from SI Mubarak Ali. The trail led to SI Anurag Bora and Little Khan, from whom the recovery of more cash was made, taking the total of today's seizure to Rs 37.8 lakh.

City Police Commissioner Diganta Barah stated that more people are likely to be apprehended for spiriting away the illegal cash. He also said that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Assam DGP GP Singh have been warning policemen not to indulge in illegal activity, and that strict action will be taken against those not heeding the warning. "Nobody found involved in such activities will be spared," Barah declared.

It should be mentioned here that, on November 21, a police team acted on the information regarding suspected persons staying at a rented house in a building belonging to Md Jamir Uddin of M.S. Road, Athgaon, under Bharalumukh police station. Subsequently, a search was conducted on the premises by a team of Bharalumukh police. The team found two persons in the house, namely Devkaran Sen of Ganv Kherja Uttarada, in the Churu district in Rajasthan, and Manoj Kumar of Saravagi Ki Bagichi, under Lachhamangarh police station in the Bhanipura district of Rajasthan.

During the search, a huge stash of cash was found in two bags. On being questioned, they were unable to provide information on the source of the huge cash. On informing the Income Tax Department, a team of IT-Sleuths arrived at the spot and counted the recovered money to the tune of Rs 1,69,70,000. The IT team is carrying out further enquiry about the source of the huge amount of cash. Meanwhile, it is suspected that the duo was involved in Hawala transactions.

Also read:   Guwahati Police nabs two for alleged involvement in hawala transactions

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