Three hawala operators held with Rs. 45.90 lakhs in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: The Commissioner's Task Force Central Zone Team on Friday arrested three individuals involved in a suspected Hawala Money racket in Abids and seized an un-accountable cash of Rs. 45.90 lakhs from their possession.

According to police, the primary accused, Manoj Kumar Sharma, a Rajastan State native who lives in the Goshamahal district, worked at Jagruthi Steel in Mehidipatnam.

He met Syed Shah Raheemuddin, Qadri Mohd Zakir Hussain, the other accused, who lives in Musheerabad also runs Steel and scrap business.

All of them came in contact with Hawala money transfer agents and secretly organised an illegal Hawala money transfer operation and provided money to Hawala brokers in metropolitan cities.

They used messaging and WhatsApp chats to communicate, maintain identification codes, and delivered hawala money in order to evade tax to the Income Tax Department.

Manoj Kumar Sharma, who collected a significant amount from customers, was apprehended by the police while attempting to deliver the money to customers near Taj Mahal Hotel road on Friday.

He confessed that Syed Shah Raheemuddin Qadri and Mohd Zakir Hussain, the main agents, who were involved in steel and scrap trading also delivered huge cash to customers through hawala on a commission basis.

Three individuals were apprehended with an un-accountable amount, including Rs. 45,90,000 from Hawala, one Honda Activa, and three cell phones from their possession as they did not disclose any cash bills.

The accused persons and seized materials were handed over to SHO, Abids police station for further investigation.