Nepal border new hub for hawala

DISTRICTS ON Nepal border are now new centres for hawala transactions after intelligence agencies have started keeping a close watch on such activities in Jaunpur, Azamgarh and Mau.

DISTRICTS ON Nepal border are now new centres for hawala transactions after intelligence agencies have started keeping a close watch on such activities in Jaunpur, Azamgarh and Mau.

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The revelation was made by Chhota Shakeel’s Balrampur-based confidant Mehtab alias Munna during his interrogation two days back. Special Task Force (STF) sleuths had arrested Munna and three others after intercepting frequent telephone calls made through conferencing from Nepal.

Besides, Chhota Shakeel has also discarded Azamgarh, which is (in)famous for being the native place of don Abu Salem, for hiring services of youths for various nasty jobs. Reason: The agencies like the CBI and the IB and the Mumbai crime branch sleuths always rush to Azamgarh and Mau districts to collect clues about Dawood or Salem.

To orchestrate the ‘company jobs’ smoothly, Shakeel has recruited youths from bordering districts of Nepal. These districts include Sidhhartha Nagar, Balrampur, Utraula and Tulsipur townships in Gonda district and Sonauli in Maharajganj.

After recruiting lieutenants on Nepal border, Shakeel has shifted the centres of hawala dealings to these places. Now, the ‘D’ gang finds it easy to run its arms business, drug trafficking and the hawala racket on the Nepal border. The gang members, whenever required, visit Nepal and go straight to Mumbai by train.

Additional SP STF Rajesh Pandey, who is handling the case, revealed that earlier most of the hawala dealings in Uttar Pradesh were finalised in Azamgarh and Mau and Dawood’s brother Anees and Shakeel carried out the hawala business from Dubai, Muscat and Karachi.

Pandey said that premier intelligence and investigating agencies were already keeping surveillance on activities of Dawood, Anees and Shakeel. The fugitive don and his confidant used to bank upon the manpower hired from Jaunpur, Azamgarh and Mau. The don’s hawala centres too were established in Azamgarh and Mau districts only.  But, frequent arrests of youths from these UP districts laid bare the Dawood’s connections and the agencies shifted their focus to these places. To avoid being intercepted by intelligence agencies, the ‘D’ gang shifted its bases to the bordering districts.