Police, ED asked to take RBI help in checking terror funding

SUMIR KAUL SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI: Intensifying its drive to curb terror funding, the Government has asked the Jammu and Kashmir Police as well as the Enforcement Directorate to seek help from the RBI in monitoring transfer of funds meant for separatist groups for alleged anti-national activities, including disturbing peace in the state.

With Union Home Minister P Chidambaram giving a clear direction to choke the funding of terror groups, the Union Home Ministry recently convened a meeting chaired by Home Secretary R K Singh in the national capital where broad contours of terror financing were discussed, official sources said today.

The sources said that during the meeting, Enforcement Directorate officials indicated that terror groups were adopting a smart approach of transferring money in small amounts to avoid suspicious transaction by the security agencies and bank authorities.

The other modus operandi used by the terror groups and separatists was that of using credit cards where they had to withdraw money once they get clearance from terror groups across the border in Pakistan, the sources said, adding some funds were even transferred through authorised money transfer agents in small amounts.

At the meeting, it was decided that the police as well as the ED would seek help of Reserve Bank of India which monitors gateways of credit cards and money transfer agents, the sources said.

While it would be an enormous task of monitoring the transactions, the officers were asked to detect suspicious transactions through their intelligence mechanism and later verify the same with the RBI, the sources said.