In a major crackdown, the Ludhiana police on Thursday dismantled a hawala network operating across various parts of the city, arresting 11 individuals involved in the illegal money transfer racket. The police have registered six cases against the suspects at different police stations. The hawala operators have connections abroad and in other parts of India, with many already under police scrutiny.
Details of the Operation
Commissioner of Police (CP) Swapan Sharma stated that during the operation, the police recovered approximately Rs 80 lakh in Indian currency, Malaysian currency worth Rs 4,000, and currency notes from other countries from the suspects. Additionally, letterhead pads and a currency counting machine were seized.
Sharma revealed that some suspects had set up fake firms to facilitate hawala transactions and were issuing duplicate receipts. It also came to light that the suspects were using Aadhaar cards of residents to carry out illegal money transfers. The police are interrogating the arrested suspects after obtaining their remand and will also question the victims whose Aadhaar cards were misused to determine how their documents reached the miscreants.
Cases Registered Across Police Stations
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Harshpreet Singh said the police registered six FIRs at Sahnewal, Police Division 3, Salem Tabri, Police Division 5, Model Town, and Moti Nagar police stations against the suspects. Those booked include Ram Murti of Nanak Nagar, Gagandeep Singh of Guru Nanak Nagar, Ajay Jaani of CMC Chowk, Jaideep Thakur of Gujarat, Mukesh Kumar of Gujarat, Sunil Kumar of CMC Chowk, Tarun Sharma of Giaspura, Jagdish Patel and Vanraj Sinha of Friends Colony, Darshal Lal Luthra of Model Town, and Tarun Sirdhana of the Bhamian Road area.
Major Recoveries
In one of the cases with significant recovery, the Moti Nagar police arrested Tarun Sirdhana from Transport Nagar, recovering Rs 50.58 lakh along with currency notes from other countries. According to the police, the man was illegally transferring money for smugglers.
The Salem Tabri police arrested Ram Murti, a 63-year-old man who had been running a hawala racket for the past two years. The police recovered Rs 1.10 lakh, a stamp pad, and six slips from his possession.
Gagandeep, Ajay Jaani, Jaideep Thakur, Mukesh, and Sunil Kumar were arrested after the police received information that they were preparing fake receipts and causing loss to the government exchequer by evading taxes. Rs 10 lakh was seized from them. During preliminary interrogation, the suspects admitted to running the hawala racket for the past few months and using Aadhaar cards of others in the transactions.
The police arrested Jagdish Patel and Vanraj Singh and seized Rs 15.72 lakh and a currency counting machine from them. ASI Mohan Lal said the duo was involved in the hawala racket through illegally set-up firms.
The Model Town police arrested Darshan Lal Luthra and recovered Malaysian currency worth Rs 4,000 along with Rs 2,51,600 in Indian currency. He was apprehended from a Forex Western Union shop. He had also allegedly prepared fake firms for illegal operations.
