UP ATS arrests Nadwaex-student from Delhi

The accused was instrumental in opening accounts in a private bank in the names of illegally migrated Bangladesh and Myanmar nationals to get money from FCRA accounts of a Delhi-based NGO: Officials

LUCKNOW In continuation with its crackdown on international human trafficking racket, the UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Monday arrested a former student of Lucknow’s Nadwa from New Delhi’s Nizamuddin railway station, said officials here on Tuesday.

According to the ATS, the accused was identified as Mohammed Abdul Awwal, 37, a resident of Golpara, Assam. He was residing in Shram Vihar, Jamia Nagar, Okhla, New Delhi for the past five years. (Pic for representation)

The accused was instrumental in opening accounts in a private bank in the names of illegally migrated Bangladesh and Myanmar nationals to get money from FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) accounts of a Delhi-based NGO. The ATS suspected use of these funds in anti-national activities and terror funding as around ₹20 crore was transferred to such accounts in the past four years, officials were quoted in a press note shared by UP ATS.

According to the ATS, the accused was identified as Mohammed Abdul Awwal, 37, a resident of Golpara, Assam. He was residing in Shram Vihar, Jamia Nagar, Okhla, New Delhi for the past five years and did his Class 12 as per the Madrasa education system.

Officials said the interrogation of the accused revealed that he met one Abdul Gaffar in Delhi during Covid outbreak in 2020, when norms for opening bank accounts were relaxed. Gaffar and his subordinates motivated the accused to open accounts in a private bank in the names of Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas, in which the former could transfer small funds to every account through FCRA accounts of NGO ‘Sun Shine Health and Social Welfare Trust’ in which funds were transferred from European countries.

Gaffar transferred funds to these bank accounts and the accused, in connivance with the former, used to withdraw all these amounts and share it equally. The accused revealed that Gaffar did similar things to many other bank accounts opened by some more people in his network, they said.

“The modus operandi to bring funds from abroad clearly suggested that the nexus was involved in using this money into anti-national activities by violating FCRA norms. The ATS sleuths are carefully scanning details of all these bank accounts and further investigation in the process is on,” a senior ATS official emphasized.