Sleuths sound alert on Sudipta’s Nepal links

Debasis Konar,TNN, Oct 22, 2014,KOLKATA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alerted the Nepal government's Department of Money Laundering Investigation (DMLI) to check hawala transactions through Nepal. Since the focus has shifted to Bangladesh after the Burdwan blast, ED officials suspect that hawala transactions will now be done through Nepal for terror funding.

Moreover, the sleuths felt that it is easier to use Nepal to send money to India or from India. Already, the ED is probing if Saradha money was siphoned off to Nepal via hawala channels. There are also reports that Sudipta Sen had been to Nepal while he was on the run. Sleuths suspect that he also had links with Dubai. The sleuths are also scanning the passport of Sudipta Sen to bust his foreign links.

It has come to the notice of the ED officials that a number of chit funds operating in Bengal had shifted money to Nepal through hawala channels. The sleuths fear that a part of this money might also land up with the militants. Recently, it was found that an Assam-based terror outfit was sending money to Nepal and ED will confiscate the same from a Nepal bank.

The sleuths are trying to find out if Saradha money was sent to middle-east and other countries. Spending of huge money to organize a number of overseas Bengali conferences in the US and Australia and the frequent foreign trips by the crew of Channel 10, owned by the group, have raised ED's suspicion.

ED is also probing if Ghosh was part of the hawala racket. It's also trying to find out whether there was any violation of the Money Laundering Act while paying fees of the MP's son who studies in London.

The sleuths have also set their sights on some of the relatives of the Saradha top functionaries who live abroad.

Meanwhile, the ED officials are probing if there was funding from Bangladesh for the Burdwan blast. The investigators who had gone to the blast site spoke to a number of police officers and confirmed that there was organized terror funding from Bangladesh. ED is also trying to find out how the money reached the terrorists who were involved in the bomb manufacturing and how did they manage to purchase plots to set up illegal madrassas in different parts of Bengal.