Author: Rahul Tripathi
Publication: The Times of India
Date: June 7, 2009
URL http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Delhi/Madani-raised-funds-from-Saudi-in-name-of-madarsas/articleshow/4625856.cms
'Money in Name of Madrassas Diverted To Jihadi
Activities'
Two days after he was arrested, Lashkare-Taiba
(LeT) operative Mohammad Umer Madani has told the Delhi police that he had
raised huge funds from Saudi Arabian countries over the past 10 years while
recruiting young men for terror activities. The Delhi police special cell
has also traced a bank account, reportedly containing Rs 20 lakh in Nepalese
currency, and credit card issued to him by a bank in Nepal.
The LeT headhunter has also revealed names
of 12 people whom he had recruited in the past five years-two from Bihar and
10 from Nepal. "He has provided their names and addresses and we are
trying to locate them," said a senior police officer.
Madani is reported to have told the police
that he has been running several madrassas on the Indo-Nepal border and frequently
visits Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. "Madani used to collect money from
several organisations in Saudi Arabia in the name of funding madrassas in
Nepal. He had diverted the funds collected between 1998 and 2008 for jihadi
activities," the officer added.
After mounting pressure in 2004, Madani fled
to Qatar and raised funds there. He came back to Nepal in 2006 where he started
Nice Travels and Tours and again started headhunting, said a source.
From his diary, the police have found several
contacts. "Several emails addresses, possibly of his contacts in Pakistan,
Nepal and Saudi Arabia, have also been traced. We are trying to decipher the
contents in these e-mails, which could reveal some terror plot," the
officer said.
The police have also zeroed in on the money
transferring agency in Nepal that Madani used.
The police said Madani will be taken to Patna
and Aligarh where he met two people and handed them US dollars and fake Indian
currency while on way to Delhi.
