New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out searches at nine locations across Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir in a major crackdown on an alleged narco-terror funding network with links to Pakistan-based handlers and the banned Hizbul Mujahideen terror outfit.
The raids, conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), targeted locations near the Line of Control in Kashmir as part of an ongoing money laundering probe. The ED has frozen bank accounts containing nearly Rs 49.9 lakh after conducting searches, ED said on Friday.
The agency said its investigation uncovered a multi-layered cross-border network in which heroin was smuggled from Pakistan into Kashmir before being transported to Punjab through an organised chain of handlers and carriers. According to the ED, the proceeds from heroin trafficking were allegedly used to finance terror activities.
The investigation revealed a well-organised and a multi-layered narco-terror funding network operating between Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir, involving Punjab-based handlers including Satnam Singh and Manjit Singh @ Maan, and Kupwara, Kashmir (near LOC) based operatives including Safeer Ahmed and Kafeel Ahmed. Heroin consignments were smuggled from Pakistan through Pakistan-based handlers linked with terrorist organization, Hizbul Mujahideen, who coordinated with Kashmir-based accused including Safeer Ahmed and Kafeel Ahmed for smuggling heroin through the Amrohi border/LoC adjoining areas into India, ED said on Friday, the ED said in a statement.
In one instance, 35 packets of heroin were retrieved, out of which 5 packets were distributed locally and 30 packets were concealed in a truck tyre for transportation to Srinagar. The consignment was delivered in Srinagar to Punjab-based alleged carriers Sarabjeet Singh and Honey Basra, who were later intercepted at Banihal in September 2023 with 30 packets weighing about 31 kg heroin. The Punjab-side network, headed by Satnam Singh and Manjit Singh @ Maan, allegedly used forged documents, fake vehicle papers, concealed cavities, multiple vehicles and cash transactions to transport and distribute heroin.
Multiple other instances were found relating to transportation of heroin from Srinagar to Punjab through an organised network headed by Satnam Singh and Manjit Singh @ Maan s/o Satnam Singh, wherein carriers and transporters were deployed to collect heroin consignments, cumulatively more than 60 kg, from Kashmir-side operatives and deliver the same in Punjab for further sale and distribution. The proceeds of crime so generated via heroin sales were used to fund terror activities, the ED stated.
The ED investigation revealed banking transactions, including high-value cash deposits in accounts of Manjit Singh @ Maan and cash deposits in the account of Sarabjeet Singh. The searches conducted by ED, particularly in border/LoC-adjoining areas, against the narco-terror funding network are significant as they target the source-side logistics and local facilitators linked with the cross-border narcotics supply chain, the ED said.
During the searches, several incriminating documents and bank account records were recovered and seized under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002. Also, several bank accounts cumulatively having an amount of approximately Rs. 49.9 lakh have been frozen, ED added.
Further investigation is under progress, the ED added.
