MHA asks ED to act against terror funding from abroad

NEW DELHI: Concerned over flow of foreign funds into the country for terror acts, the Home Ministry has asked the Enforcement Directorate to take urgent steps to check pumping of illicit money which poses a threat to internal security.

In a letter to the ED, the Ministry said foreign funds continue to be dispatched into India through various channels, including through 'hawala' operators, and that needs to be checked.

Officials sources said the illicit funds are routed from a few countries in Gulf into India through 'hawala' operators as well as Western Union money transfer.

Asking the ED to dedicate special teams to track the funds coming from abroad, the Home Ministry said if such practice continues, it would be a threat to country's internal security and steps needed to be taken on an urgent basis.

Last year, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had sought international cooperation in dealing with terrorists taking the stock market route for raising funds for their operations.

"It is a cliche to say that terror-funding is the lifeblood of terrorism. Credible intelligence suggests that terrorist outfits are investing in stock markets through spurious companies, setting up fictitious businesses and laundering money," he had told the Interpol General Assembly in Rome.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India ( SEBI) too had carried out an investigation against 35 stockbrokers for possible lapses in controls related to money-laundering and terror-financing.

Shinde had also said that terrorist groups were putting money in the stock markets and the government was keeping track of it.

India is a victim of financial terrorism since long and investments into the share markets is just another form of it, sources said.