4 days ago
IT professional among three arrested, Rs 40.35 lakh hawala money recovered in Bharuch: Police
An IT professional, among three persons, was arrested and Rs 40.35 lakh hawala money was allegedly recovered from them, in Bharuch, said police on Friday.
The Bharuch Special Operation Group (SOG) officials arrested the three accused, all residents of Bharuch, on Thursday night.
The police identified the accused as Mohammed Javid Patel (24), who works as an IT professional at a private firm; Huzaifa Patel (22), who works as an assistant engineer at a factory, and Zakariya Bariwala (Patel) (23), who works at another private firm. The three accused have been booked under the provisions of the BNSS, said police.
According to police, the three accused had on Monday stolen the hawala money from a man's car in Ankleshwar. The man, identified as Maulvi Musa Randera (Patel) of Surat district's Mangrol taluka, works at a madrasa in Maharashtra's Aurangabad, said police.
Earlier, the Bharuch police had received a tip-off about three men stealing an Eco car from the parking of Omkar Complex in Ankleshwar. On checking the CCTV footage of the area, the Bharuch SOG police found that the three accused persons, who had come on a two-wheeler, had stolen money from the car, not the vehicle.
Further probe led the police to the three accused, who were hiding in a house in Bharuch district's Karmad village, said sources. On Thursday, the Bharuch SOG police arrested the three men. During checking, the police recovered Rs 40.35 lakh from the accused even as the rest of the amount is yet to be seized.
After primary interrogation, the trio confessed to the theft in Ankleshwar.
Bharuch SOG Police Inspector Anand Chaudhary said, 'Accused Huzaifa knew that his friend Shakir Patel was involved in a hawala racket in Bharuch. A few days back, he had hacked Shakir's mobile phone and was tracking his WhatsApp messages. On Sunday, Huzaifa came to know about a large amount of money being delivered in a garment shop for Maulvi Musa Randera (Patel). Huzaifa along with his two friends reached the area on the said date and started following the Maulvi. The Maulvi, after collecting the money from the shop in his Eco car, left the spot'.
Inspector Chaudhary added: 'The three accused later chased the car till the Omkar Complex in Ankleshwar, where the Maulvi parked his vehicle and went for shopping at a nearby store. The three accused meanwhile stole the Rs 48 lakh from his car and escaped.'
Based on the statements given by the accused, the Bharuch SOG police questioned the garment shop owner, Afzal Patel, who is also Zakariya's elder brother. During his interrogation, Afzal shared that 'Shakir Patel had told him that one Zahur Patel would deliver Rs 48 lakh in cash at his shop and the same should be given to Maulvi Randera'.
On the basis of Afzal's statements, the Bharuch SOG police detained the Maulvi and Shakir Patel for questioning even as accused Zahur Patel is absconding, said sources.
Chaudhary further added, 'During the probe, the Maulvi told us that the money was sent by his cousin brother Zahid Nomani, a resident of Zambia, as the former wanted to purchase a house.'
Inspector Chaudhary said, 'We cross-checked the information shared by Maulvi and found that his cousin did go to Zambia around five years ago but is not financially sound. A probe has been launched into the matter.' Meanwhile, police sources said that Shakir and Afzal Patel 'had been involved in hawala trading activities for the past couple of years'.
The Bharuch police, after seizing Rs 40.35 lakh, informed the Enforcement Directorate officials in Surat, said sources.
