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ED uncovers massive hawala racket

By Our Special Correspondent

One of the Toyota Qualis vehicles used for transporting hawala money from Chennai to Kerala. A cavity has been made in the vehicle to keep the money concealed. — Photo: M. Moorthy

CHENNAI FEB. 6. Monday's seizure of Rs. 75 lakhs in cash, kept in specially-made cavities in the boot, from a vehicle in Salem, is only the tip of the iceberg. The Enforcement Directorate here with the help of the Tamil Nadu police, has uncovered a massive `hawala' operation running to nearly Rs. 100 crores. An organised gang transported the `laundered money' in three vehicles from Chennai to Kozhikode in Kerala over four months from October last.

Acting on information that huge sums of Indian currency were being moved to Kerala regularly, the Central agency kept watch on a Virugambakkam residence in suburban Chennai, the Deputy Director of the Enforcement Directorate, V. Subramanian, told a press conference here today. There was also a tip-off that the gang was transporting "hawala money", using three Toyota Qualis vehicles, with a provision for concealing currency.

During surveillance on February 3, the Virugambakkam house was searched and money, in the denominations of Rs. 500 and 100, seized, besides "incriminating documents" and a currency counting machine. The ED officials came to know that one of the vehicles had already left for Kerala. Immediately, with the assistance of the Tamil Nadu DGP, information was passed and the vehicle carrying Rs. 75 lakhs was seized in Salem. Investigations revealed that the Chennai-operations, headed by C.K. Beerankutty, involved five persons — P. Safeer, K. Sameer Babu, K. Kunhi Mohamed, A.P. Ashraf and Mohamed Shareef — all from Malapuram in Kerala. During interrogation, Beerankutty admitted to having received more than Rs.97 crores from October to February.

Help from all Central and State Government agencies would be sought to nab a Dubai-based operator, Shareef, under whose instructions huge sums of the laundered money — proceeds from sale of gold and other contraband — reached Chennai and were later transported to C.K. Mustafa, Kozhikode-based operator now at large, for distribution to "various parties" in Kerala. "We would get to the root of the racket and check whether the hawala money was being used for mere distribution in Kerala or for funding any terrorist activity or for some sensitive operations", Mr.Subramanian said.

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