IS man used city hawala network

The National Investigation Agency (NIA)’s probe against the Islamic State (IS) has revealed that the 29-year-old Shafi Armar alias Yusuf-al-Hindi alias Anjaan Bhai, a Bhatkal resident, who allegedly handles the terror group’s activities in India has over the past one year used contacts in Mumbai-based hawala networks to transfer funds for terror-related activities, including setting up of a base here.

Armar, who is absconding and is suspected of being in Syria, had used two unidentified Mumbai-based hawala couriers, including an unidentified garments (lungi) trader, to allegedly transfer '5.86 lakh in cash to a key associate a few months ago, according to a counter-terror agency official familiar with the NIA probe.

The coded instructions for contacting the hawala couriers were sent on a social media site to IS recruiter Mudabbir Shaikh alias Abu Musab, a Mumbai resident, said the source. Shaikh was in November 2015 appointed as the India chief (Ameer-e-Hind) of an outfit, Junood-ul-Khilafa-Fil-Hind, which was created by Armar allegedly as an allied group of the IS, said the source. The NIA submitted a chargesheet against Shaikh and the absconding Armar, along with a few others, in the Delhi court in July.

According to the source, Armar had allegedly sent a “code and a code name” to Shaikh via their accounts on a social media site to collect '1.06 lakh — the first instalment of the '5.86 lakh fund transferred — for “setting up a base for IS in India.”

The cash was collected from a garments trader at a spot near JJ flyover in south Mumbai, after which Shaikh allegedly sent a confirmation to Armar via the same social media account. Shaikh subsequently collected '4.80 lakh from another unidentified hawala agent at a spot in Zaveri Bazaar in south Mumbai, according to the source. The NIA has gathered witness statements to corroborate the alleged handover of funds via hawala — illegal channel — route.

The NIA chargesheet identified Armar as an alleged member of the IS as well as the Indian Mujahideen (IM). IM has been accused of carrying out several serial blasts in the country since 2005, including those in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Delhi in 2008. Armar, who has an Interpol Red Corner Notice pending against him issued at the request of Indian counter-terror agencies, is suspected of being an associate of IM’s absconding co-chief Riyaz Bhatkal, who is allegedly hiding in Karachi, Pakistan. According to NIA’s probe findings, Armar, allegedly the media chief of the IS, acts as its main recruiter across India. Armar was allegedly associated with IS’s Parbhani module that was busted by the Maharashtra police in July.

Armar is suspected of having fled the country after 2008 after the crackdown on the IM in India. He allegedly switched over to the IS because of his inclination towards global jihad, according to the source. Armar was allegedly active in A combat role in Afghanistan in 2013 but the next year he shifted to Syria, after pledging his allegiance to the IS.