NEW DELHI: Who paid Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley's international credit card bills is at the heart of a widening probe which has revealed that at least Rs 20-25 crore was spent by terror suspects in the recent past across the country through such credit cards. Bills for such cards were paid in US, Canada and Nepal, and establishing a link could unearth the identity of their masters.
Intelligence agencies, tracking economic footprints and wide network of jihadis and their sleeper cells in different cities, have found that of late, terror suspects have been using international credit cards issued in US, Canada, UK, Dubai, Nepal and Bangladesh and bills are picked up by their handlers based in these countries. Agencies are identifying all such payment gateways and their beneficiaries.
It's no more hawala channel or traders operating across the LoC that are sources of funding for the scores of terror outfits active within the country. Terrorists are now individually given international credit cards which they use to withdraw money for their operations in India and pay for their bills during their stay here.
Top sources said at least Rs 20-25 crore expenditure made by terror suspects in the recent past through such credit cards was traced by security and intelligence agencies. Investigation revealed that money was withdrawn in all parts of the country, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kashmir — indicating the wide spread of terror networks and the ease with which they manage to hoodwink the surveillance system.
In what could lead to the exposing of a wider base of terror masterminds operating from as far away as US, Canada and some other destinations in Europe, the government is in touch with these countries to verify who picked up the credit card bills on behalf of these terror suspects.
The attempt of terror outfits to use destinations like the US and Europe to fund their operatives here through credit cards is also a new modus operandi, according to a senior intelligence official. This is to hoodwink the financial system that was keeping a close watch on all possible channels of funding for terror outfits coming from countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and UAE, he added.
The government had imposed strict know-your-customer guidelines for banks and financial institutions in the country to choke terror funding using the legal system. This was in addition to a major crackdown on hawala channels after a series of terror attacks in the past were linked to such financing methods.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Who-paid-David-Coleman-Headleys-credit-card-bill/articleshow/5736681.cmsI am not sure about Europe, but when is America going to wake up and agreesively launch investigations to bust the local terror modules, if its not done, sooner or later they will attack America itself. Every Muslim in US should be treated as terror suspect!! Visas should not be issued to pakistanis,palestinians,arabs,bangladeshis,indonesians...etc on an urgent basis!!
Topic: America and Europe used by jihadists for funding terror operations (Read 959 times)