Former minister wanted in Hawala money case arrested
Jammu, April 9: Former Jammu and Kashmir minister Jatinder Singh alias ‘Babu Singh’, the main accused in a case related to the recent recovery of Hawala money meant for subversive activities, was arrested from Kathua district on Saturday, police said.
Singh was absconding since March 31 after police busted a Hawala racket here and issued a lookout notice for him on April 6.
The name of former minister surfaced in this case when police arrested a man from Kashmir along with some Hawala money, however, the former minister was on run since then.
In a statement, police spokesperson said that Mohammad Shareef Shah, a resident of south Kashmir’s Kokernag, was arrested with the Hawala money on March 31 from the Gandhi Nagar area of Jammu and his questioning revealed that he was tasked by Singh, a resident of Kathua district, to collect the money from Srinagar.
“Multiple attempts were made to intercept and arrest the former minister but he kept on evading arrest,” police said.
Three persons – Sidhant Sharma of Kathua and S Gurdev Singh and Mohd Shrief Sartaj of Jammu were detained for questioning in connection with the case, police said.
Shah has also disclosed names of his foreign associates including Javed and Khatib of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Farooq Khan of Toronto (Canada), police said.
“He was also running a group on social media platforms having members from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as well, police added.
Meanwhile, further investigation is going on.