Mumbai, 09 January (HS): The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested five persons from the Kaij area of Beed district for allegedly funding terrorist organisations. The ATS is conducting a detailed investigation into the case.
The accused are alleged to have collected crores of rupees from the public by creating a fake trust and diverted the funds to terrorist organisations. An ATS official investigating the case told the media that, with the assistance of Kaij Police Station, five persons associated with a trust named Gulzar-e-Raza were arrested on the afternoon of January 8.
The accused allegedly opened multiple bank accounts, including with Axis Bank, using forged identity documents and used these accounts to channel funds to terrorist outfits. The arrested persons have been identified as Ahmeduddin Kaiser Qazi, Imran Kaleem Sheikh, Muzammil Noor Saiyed, Ahmeduddin Sattar Qazi and Taufiq Javed Qazi.
According to investigators, the accused collected crores of rupees from the public under the guise of religious activities and also cheated banks and the Income Tax Department using forged documents. The ATS is probing these aspects as well. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the trust misappropriated funds amounting to Rs 4.73 crore.
A case of cheating has been registered against the accused at the Majalgaon Rural Police Station in Beed district. The ATS official said the trust came under suspicion while the agency was probing institutions allegedly involved in funding terrorist organisations in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. Information available on the organisation’s website and social media platforms indicated that donations were being collected for religious purposes. However, technical investigations revealed irregularities.
It was found that the trust had opened five bank accounts at an Axis Bank branch in Latur by misleading the bank and falsely citing the registration number of another organisation, Faizan-e-Kanzul Imaan of the Waqf Board, Ahilyanagar. The investigation also revealed that fake registration numbers were provided during registration on the NITI Aayog’s Darpan portal. Further investigation in the matter is ongoing.
---------------
Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar