The arrest of five persons in connection with a theft of money that was stage-managed has unravelled a hawala racket in the city.
Police Commissioner N. Shashi Kumar gave the names of arrested as Mohammed Rifath Ali, Ashfaq, Jaffer Sadiq, Mohammed Ismail and Mayyadi .
Mr. Kumar told reporters here on Friday that Abdul Salam filed a complaint with the Mangaluru South Police on March 4 that three persons, who came on a motorcycle, waylaid his scooter and robbed him of ₹14.2 lakh that he was carrying on February 23.
Based on images from the CCTVs in the area and an inquiry of the complainant, the Mangaluru South Police arrested Rifath Ali, Asfaq and Sadiq, who were directly involved in the theft, and Mohammed Ismail and Mayyadi, who were conspirators in the crime. Further inquiry, Mr. Kumar said, revealed that the theft was stage-managed by the arrested persons at the instance of Salam, an hawala agent, working for an hawala operator in the city.
Mr. Kumar said that the money that was stolen was part of the proceeds of hawala transaction and the main hawala operator had given the amount to Salam for distribution among those involved in the racket. Before stage-managing the theft, Salam conspired with Mayyadi, another hawala agent, and Ismail, a friend of the main hawala operator, to keep the cash among themselves.
After the five were arrested, Salam and the main hawala operator in the city have gone absconding. A search is on for these two persons.
As many as eight persons, including two from abroad, are said to be involved in the hawala racket. The value of hawala transaction that these agents and the operator were involved in was more than ₹1 crore, he said.
The investigation, Mr. Kumar said, showed that hawala transactions were being made using cash and also by transferring amounts to bank accounts of those known to the operator and agents. The hawala operator, his agents and sub-agents operated in an organised way and did not make use of mobile phones to contact each other, he said.
In a press release, the police said that Rifath Ali was an accused in four criminal cases registered in Bantwal Town, Mangaluru Rural, Ullal and Mangaluru Narcotic Crime Stations. While Asfaq was an accused in three cases registered in Mangaluru Rural and Kankanady stations, Ismail was an accused in a case registered in the Kankanady Police Station. The police recovered ₹98,000 in cash and two motorcycles from the arrested persons, Mr. Kumar said.
