Onlykashmir.in News Desk
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted search operations at 13 locations across multiple states in connection with an alleged terror funding and illegal infiltration network, uncovering cash and gold coins at one site linked to a religious seminary in West Bengal.
The searches spanned Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Murshidabad in West Bengal, Ballabhgarh in Faridabad, Haryana, Deoband in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and other locations, reflecting the geographically dispersed nature of the alleged network under investigation. The case traces back to an FIR registered by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad against an organised syndicate accused of facilitating the illegal infiltration of Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals into India, arranging forged Indian identity documents for them, and helping embed them across various parts of the country.
During searches at the Harora Al-Jamiatul Islamia Darul Uloom in Kalilkapur, West Bengal, officials recovered cash amounting to 40 lakh rupees along with gold coins, a discovery that investigators say points to a well-resourced operation rather than a small-scale racket. The find has added urgency to the broader probe into how the network sustained its activities financially.
Investigators said the case has revealed a deep-rooted financial architecture involving certain charitable trusts and entities that allegedly received substantial foreign contributions before diverting the funds through multiple bank accounts and mule accounts to facilitate the network’s illegal activities. Early findings further indicate that operatives relied on cash withdrawals and numerous small-value fund transfers, a method often used to avoid detection by keeping individual transactions below regulatory reporting thresholds, to move money to suspected beneficiaries.
The scale and coordination of Thursday’s operation, spanning West Bengal, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi in a single sweep, underscores the seriousness with which agencies are treating the alleged conspiracy. Officials said the investigation remains ongoing, with further searches and financial tracing expected as the agency works to map the full extent of the network’s operations and identify all individuals and entities involved in facilitating both the infiltration and its underlying funding.
