Mohammad Aslam Wani, an alleged hawala dealer arrested in a money-laundering case involving Kashmiri separatist Shabir Shah, was on Sunday remanded in judicial custody by a court here till August 31.
Duty Magistrate Jasjeet Kaur allowed the Enforcement Directorate’s plea, made by its advocate N.K. Matta, that he be remanded in judicial custody. Mr. Wani, 36, was produced before the court at the end of two-week custodial interrogation, the maximum the ED could be granted under the law. He was arrested on August 6 after a sessions court issued an open-ended, non-bailable warrant against him.
On August 26, 2005, the Delhi Police’s Special Cell arrested Wani, who had allegedly claimed to have passed on ₹2.25 crore to Shah. In 2010, a Delhi court cleared Wani of terror-funding charges, but convicted him under the Arms Act. The Enforcement Directorate registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against both. At the time of his arrest, Wani was allegedly found in possession of ₹63 lakh he had received through hawala channels from the Middle East, and a large cache of ammunition.
He told the Enforcement Directorate that of the amount, ₹50 lakh was to be delivered to Shah and ₹10 lakh to Jaish-e-Mohammad area commander in Srinagar Abu Baqar, and the rest was his commission, the FIR said.
