Hawala accused made calls to West Asia: CBI

Three alleged hawala operators arrested in the Sarabjot Singh, alias Sweety Baba, case are suspected to be a part of an international hawala racket, CBI probe has revealed.

Examination of the phone records of the three alleged operators, Anup Begi, Dhukh Singh and Madan Singh, have revealed that several calls were made to West Asia in the last two months. Incidentally, the SBI also sealed a foreign exchange centre owned by Dhukh Singh from where he is suspected to have operated the racket.

“They are definitely a part of an international racket. We are conducting a joint probe with the Enforcement Directorate to trace entire chain,” said a senior CBI official. Dhukh Singh was arrested in a case under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act and has been jailed for the same.

Meanwhile, the CBI is likely to call Buta Singh, father of Sarabjot and chief of the National Commission for Scheduled Caste, for questioning in a day or two. They are collecting evidence against him and recording the statements of the witnesses.

A visit by Buta Singh to Mumbai in October 2008 with his son during which he stayed at Maharashtra guest house is also under the scanner. In a related development, all the four arrested accused were granted bail by the sessions court on Thursday, said senior public prosecutor Ejaz Khan.

A massive manhunt is still on for Bangalore-based Shyamlal Chaudhari, another key hawala operator. During interrogation, the arrested hawala operator confessed that they were going to send the collected bribe amount to Chaudhari.