M A I N   N E W S

Lashkar’s hawala dealer arrested

New Delhi, January 16
The Delhi Police today arrested a hawala operator suspected to have supplied Rs 35 lakh to the arrested four Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists accused of planning to disrupt the January 26 Republic Day function.

The four terrorists — Mohammed Afzal Kumhar, Bilal Ahmed Mir, Adil Nazir Keen and Ansar Ahmed — were arrested by the special Cell of the Delhi Police on Monday night. At least three more arrests, including let’s district commander of Anantnag Abu Amaar, were likely to be made in the case. Senior police officials said the hawala Dealer Dilip Tribhuvan Das Barhot alias Dilipbhai was picked up from an undisclosed destination in Delhi in the early hours to day. The police was now on the hot chase of the person, code named nasir, suspected to have supplied explosives to the LeT terrorists.

Dilipbhai was produced before Special POTO Judge S.N. Dhingra who remanded him in police custody for seven days.

The officials said Dilipbhai was alleged to have handed over Rs 28.25 lakh to the terrorists on three different occasions on the direction of a man from Mumbai. The police refused to identify the Mumbai resident or the place of his stay as it could come in the way of his early arrest.

The Mumbai Police has been apprised about the involvement of the person named by Dilipbhai and asked to help in arresting him.

The police recovered another Rs 4.6 lakh from the possession of Dilipbhai when he was arrested.

The Delhi Police investigation so far revealed that the money was supplied to the terrorists on the directive of a person from Pakistan who interacted with the terrorists through the Anantnag commander.

The officials said about two months ago, Amaar contacted Afzal and Adil and directed them to bring ‘hawala’ money from Delhi. On December 29 last year, he once again directed them to carry out some major action in Delhi on the Republic Day function. UNI

4 hideouts of ultras smashed

Srinagar, January 16
Security forces smashed four hideouts of militants in the Kashmir valley, where a (BSF) jawan was injured when militants attacked two BSF pickets with grenades here since last night, official sources said today.

The militants hurled a grenade at a BSF picket at Hawal in downtown Srinagar last night wounding a jawan of the force, the sources said.

Minutes before the incident, another grenade explosion occurred near a BSF picket at Sazgaripora in the city but none was hurt, the sources said.

Meanwhile, the Army smashed four militant hideouts during raids conducted at Kungri Nullah near Uri and Hardoop-Wagub in Baramulla, Wourapachnar near Wusan on the outskirts here and Sheltu-Shopian in Pulwama district today.

A large cache of arms and ammunition, including a pika gun, two AK assault rifles, three pistols, a silencer, 17 grenades, two RPG rockets, five 12-mm mortar shells, two IED time devices, seven explosive slabs, three explosive balls, eight gelatine sticks and 500 gms of loose explosive were recovered from the hideouts, the sources said.

In Jammu three persons, including a militant, were killed in an encounter in Budhal tehsil of Doda district, official sources said today.

A group of militants fired on a security post at Keri-Kwas last night and in retaliatory action one militant was shot dead, the sources said here.

One special police officer (SPO) and a woman were killed in the incident, they said adding the militants however escaped. PTI

Freeze accounts of ultras: RBI
Tribune News Service and PTI

New Delhi, January 16
The Reserve Bank of India has directed all public sector and other banks to keep a close watch on transactions on accounts of foreign terrorist outfits and asked them not to allow any withdrawal or payment from these accounts.

“The Reserve Bank of India hereby directs that unless and until directed otherwise by the RBI, you shall secure that no withdrawal of payment from the accounts of the entities are allowed and the said accounts are not closed or transferred to any other office’’, the apex bank said in a recent circular to the banks.

The directives were in pursuance of the UN security resolution to immediately freeze the accounts of these terrorists organisations, it said.

The RBI, in the circular said, it considered it necessary to give the directions “for the purpose of securing compliance with the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, and rules, orders and directions made thereunder’’.

The group against whom the banks have been told to be on guard are — the Holy Land Foundation (primarily active in the USA) the Beit El-Mal Holdings, the Aka Arab Palestinian Beit El-Mal Company, the Aka Beit Al-Mat Holdings, the Aka Beit El-Mal Al-Phalastini Al-Arabi Al-Mushima Al-Aama Al-Mahaduda Ltd (Translated as House of Money), P.O. Box No 662 Ramallah, Gaza/West Bank.

It also included Al-Aqsa Islamic Bank and Aka Al-Aqsa Al-Islami Bank, P.O. Box 3753 A-Beireh, Palestinian Autonomous Areas, Rammallah 11970, West Bank, Israel.