Africa-linked hawala racket busted in Bharuch
The funds were intended for a maulvi from Surat who was working at an Aurangabad madrasa. Police began an investigation as the purpose behind the fund transfer remains unclear.
Police received a tip-off that two men, Zakariya Bariwala and Javid Pipa, would be heading to Detrol village with a large amount of cash. Police intercepted them and discovered Rs 40.35 lakh in cash in their scooter. They confessed to stealing the money from the car that was parked near Lords Plaza after the third accused, Hujefa Patel, tipped them off to the presence of the cash.
SOG police inspector A A Chaudhary told TOI, "After we arrested Hujefa, he told us that his friend, Sakir Patel, would often carry out hawala transactions and receive messages on WhatsApp. Based on these messages, he would obtain and deliver hawala funds. Hujefa had hacked Sakir's WhatsApp and traced his messages. When he learned that Rs 48 lakh would be transferred from Zambia, he enlisted Bariwala and Pipa to steal the money when the car was parked at the hotel.
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SOG police found that the money had been sent by one Zahid Khalid from Zambia to Aurangabad-based maulavi Musa Adam Randera. The maulavi, who is from Mangrol in Surat district, worked for a salary of Rs 12,000 at an Aurangabad madrasa. Tausif Patel had collected the cash from Zahid and sent it to Bharuch by angadia. In Bharuch, Sakir collected the cash and handed it over to Afzal Patel, who runs a garment shop in Bharuch.
Afzal handed the funds to Randera, who kept it in the car from where it was stolen.
"We have arrested the three accused who stole the money. They had stolen Rs 48 lakh. One of them went to Ajmer and spent some of the money and settled a debt. We are yet to recover Rs 7.65 lakh," Chaudhary said.
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Why maulavi did not file a theft complaint?
Police say the hawala racket has been operating for years and Randera could not provide a satisfactory explanation for the purpose of the funds. "Randera earns Rs 12,000 a month and told police that he wanted to buy a house for his brother. We could not find any chat or documents that hint at buying a home. Additionally, Randera did not file a complaint for the theft of the money. This raises doubts about the intended use.
We have sent the mobiles of the accused to the FSL for data recovery. We have also requested the angadia to provide details of one year's transactions from Africa," said Chaudhary.
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