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ED arrests educational trust chief in Rajasthan for 'money laundering, radicalisation'

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Mohammed Sadeeque, former President of Alfurkan Educational Trust in Rajasthans Bikaner, on Thursday for money laundering linked to forced religious conversions and radicalisation activities, the agency said. The federal investigations allegedly reveal systematic diversion of public donations, extensive cash-based criminal operations and suspicious foreign associations and conduct indicative of radicalisation. The arrest of Mohammed Sadeeque marks a significant step in dismantling a network of shadow financial operations, suspected radical influences and unlawful activities operating under the guise of charitable and religious work, the agency claimed. Following the arrest, the court granted ED custody of Sadeeque for three days for further investigation. The agency initiated a probe based on two cases registered by Rajasthan Police and credible information wherein it is alleged that Sadeeque was involved in radicalisation activities, Dawah activity and forced religious conversions, association with various overseas radical outfits and suspicious high-value financial transactions routed through his and his family members bank accounts, running into crores of rupees. The police FIRs and chargesheets also mention charges of attempt to murder and use of illegal arms by Sadeeque. The federal agency, during probe, found that Sadeeque formed Alfurkan Educational Trust, which manages Masjid-e-Ayesha and routinely collected sizeable public donations for and through this trust, primarily in cash, with no financial record keeping. The donations collected for religious, social and charitable use were allegedly retained entirely in cash by Sadeeque under his sole, undocumented control. The probe indicates that these unaccounted cash collections became the primary source of funds that he diverted for personal use and deployed to finance a range of illegal activities, including those of undertaking frequent foreign visits and meeting banned and radical outfits overseas and promoting his radical agenda, the agency said. Examination of his foreign travels shows that Sadeeque undertook multiple visits to Bangladesh, Nepal, Qatar and Oman using unverified cash funds, without any lawful financial trail. During his visit to Bangladesh, he worked closely with Md. Salim alias Saurabh Vaidya, later arrested by the Madhya Pradesh ATS for alleged links with the proscribed organisation Hizb-ut-Tahrir, the agency said. Further probe established that Sadeeque had no legitimate or consistent source of income for several years and subsisted on unlawful cash-based operations, including gambling, illicit liquor trade and suspected dealings in illegal country-made firearms. The link between these criminal activities and the misappropriated donations is reinforced by the recovery of three country-made weapons and live cartridges from him and his associates in a case already charge-sheeted by the local police. The faade of religious and charitable work was thus consciously used by Sadeeque to conceal deeper networks of unaccounted, clandestine and criminal operations, the agency said. During probe, the agency further said, it also found that Sadeeque met members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB/JuM) and maintained contact with them even after returning to India. He was also encouraged by JMB-linked individuals to travel to Nepal for further meetings and allegedly intended to travel onwards to Syria to access conflict zones, but was intercepted by immigration authorities. The probe also examined a widely circulated video in which an inflammatory speech is attributed to him which was made with the deliberate intention of provoking communal sentiments, the agency added that he was involved in burning of foreign country's flag at public gatherings and then mobilising cash donations by orchestrating such activities.