ED attaches Rs 17.73 lakh in J&K terror funding case

New Delhi, March 29 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate has attached Rs 17.73 lakh recovered from three Jammu and Kashmir residents who are alleged to have received funding from terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen for terror activities in the state.

The financial probe agency attached the amount from Irshad Ahmad Qureshi, Irshad Ahmad Hajjam and Firdous Ahmad Wani under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), an official said on Wednesday.

Qureshi and Hajjam were arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police on March 10, 2009 from Srinagar while Wani was held later.

Qureshi told the investigators that he works as a private school principal and in November 2007, he came in contact with a terrorist Bashir Ahmad Aijaz, who offered him a proposal for distribution of money for terror acts on five per cent commission.

"Qureshi used to get money into his bank account in a Jammu and Kashmir Bank in Srinagar and subsequently distributed it among the people as per the instruction of Aijaz," an Enforcement Directorate official said.

The official said Qureshi later brought in Hajjam and utilised his services for distribution of the money at a commission of two per cent. Hajjam has admitted his involvement in the crime.

Both Qureshi and Hajjam, told the investigators that they collected the money from Firdous Ahmad Wani, the third accused.

"Wani stated that the seized money was the share of sale of his ancestral house, which was meant for his brother settled in Pakistan. However, he could not justify the recovered amount as sale proceeds," the official said.

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