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Misuse of ₹58 crore foreign aid: UP ATS arrests Bengal man for anti-national activities
Three arrests had already been made between October and December from Assam, West Bengal and Bangladesh in connection with the case, the agency said.
The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday arrested a West Bengal resident accused of getting foreign funds worth ₹58 crore in the name of two trusts and misusing them to carry out anti-national activities, police said. The arrest was made in Lucknow’s Manak Nagar area.
“Abu Saleh Mandal, 50, a resident of 24 Parganas district in West Bengal and on whom a reward of ₹50,000 was declared by the ATS, was arrested in Manak Nagar area of Lucknow...” said a note issued by the ATS.
The ATS said it had intelligence of a syndicate that got illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and other neighbour countries settled in India by procuring fake documents on their behalf, and made them promote anti-national activities here. “Cases under relevant IPC sections, section 14 of The Foreigners Act, 1946 and sections 12(1) and 12(2) of The Passport Act, 1967 have been registered against Abu Saleh,” the note added.
Three arrests had already been made between October and December from Assam, West Bengal and Bangladesh in connection with the case, the agency said.
During his interrogation, Abu Saleh reportedly claimed to be the director of trusts Kabir Bagh Millat Academy and Haroa-al Jamiatul Islamia Darul Uloom Madrasa. “The FCRA accounts [through which foreign fundings can be received] of these trusts showed they had received a sum of around ₹58 crore (from UK-based Umma Welfare Trust) between 2018 and 2022,” said the police note.
The ATS explained that a large part of the fundings was obtained in the form of cash through false billings. Also, fake firms, named Ghazi Foods Supply and Ghazi Masonries, were used to get the funds. Besides, some money was also received through Hawala.
Along with ₹1.16 lakh in cash, two mobile phones and two Aadhaar cards were also recovered from Abu Saleh’s possession, the ATS added.
