Hizb-ul-Mujahideen raised over Rs 80 crores in 8 years to fund terror in India: Investigators

NEW DELHI: Indian investigators have said that the Pakistan-based Hizb-ul-Mujahideen raised over Rs 80 crores from several Pakistani sources to fund terrorist acts in India.

"HM is claimed to be actively involved in furthering terrorist activities in India and has raised over INR 800 million within the past eight years," India's investigators told the Financial Action Task Force in Paris.

"Once the money reaches India, it is distributed through various conduits at various places to active terrorists and families of killed HM terrorists," says a report by the Task Force.

Money raised in other countries is also reportedly being transferred or diverted to trusts and front organizations of the outfit, investigators add.

India has repeatedly named Pakistan on international platforms for allowing terrorists to operate from its soil with the help of its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) was involved in the September 7, 2011 Delhi High Court blast, in which 17 people were killed and 76 were injured.

Days before the Paris attacks, the Task Force's member countries had discussions about how terrorist organizations are getting funded and how they can be stopped.

"The backing of groups like HM and LeT (Lashkar-e-Toiba), which was involved in (a) Paris-like attack in Mumbai in 2008, and revelations that the outfits are raising money freely for terror activities against India calls for international community and leaders to seek answers from Pakistan," a government official said.

The Task Force's October 2015 report, 'Emerging Terrorist Financing Risks', adds that Hizb-ul-Mujahideen's funds are mainly used to financially support members of active and killed militants of the organization, including family members. "HM allegedly incurs expenditure on mobile communication, medical treatment of militants, arms and ammunition, clothing and other military equipment," it said.

The report further says the banking sector is being extensively used for the transfer of funds to various accounts for Hizb-ul-Mujahideen's activities in India. Investigators also informed the Task Force in October that funds were also being moved "via money value transfer services."

The Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, which is banned by India, the US and the European Union, has been fuelling unrest in Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of India since 1989. Aside from links with Pakistan's intelligence agency, the banned group is also associated with LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, SIMI, and the United Jihad Council.