Currency notes worth a third of Kerala’s total NRI remittance enters the state every year, if the state home minister's statement is any indication.
Home minister says over Rs 10,000 crore illegally enters the state every year
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Currency notes worth a third of Kerala’s total NRI remittance enters the state every year, if the state home minister's statement is any indication.
Apart from creating artificial inflation, the money, known as hawala, provides the much-needed lifeline for underworld goons and terrorists. Stung by a High Court observation that the Kerala police are virtually controlled by the underworld, the police have begun a crackdown drive.
Home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has admitted that illegal financial transaction chains in the state have links to global subversive groups. According to him, the amount of money illegally transferred to the state will be around Rs 10,000 crore, a third of the total NRI remittance in all the commercial banks in the state.
“It has come to the government's notice that majority of the money transacted illegally to the state is counterfeit currency, which sometimes originates from foreign countries,” he said.
According to him, the recent arrests of hawala operators in Malappuram have yielded valuable information and intelligence officials have proof of involvement of anti-national forces. The high court has castigated the state government in the case involving Rs 40 lakh. Justice R Basant, disposing of the bail petitions of two youths arrested on March 28 while fleeing with huge amounts of cash, even expressed apprehension if the police was being controlled by the underworld. The cash was part of Rs 40 crore looted from a car in Malapuram district.
On July 20, the court directed the DGP to submit a report within 30 days. The court said the police in Kondotty had "not even moved a little finger" to track the mystery money. The special team has netted another gangster, who specialises in looting hawala money that enters the northern districts of Kerala.
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