ATS scanning records of Trust run by key accused

LUCKNOW : The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) was scanning records of the Trust operated by Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, who was arrested from Meerut on charges of running a conversion racket on September 21, said senior ATS officials here on Thursday.

A senior ATS official said Siddiqui along with his three accomplices Mohd Idrisi Qureshi, Mohd Saleem and Mohd Atif alias Kunal Ashok Chowdhury, who arranged funds for the racket, would be soon taken to Meerut and Muzaffarnagar for investigation.

Siddiqui has been in ATS custody for 10 days since September 24 while his three accomplices, who were arrested on September 26, have been in ATS custody for seven days since September 27.

The ATS interrogated them and made them face one another while cross questioning them over arranging of funds from different sources, including some international organisations.

“The trio managed to get funds transferred to the bank accounts of a Trust operated by Siddiqui. The probe revealed that over Rs 20 crore was transferred to the Trust’s bank account from different sources and nearly Rs 1.5 crore was transferred to it from Bank of Bahrain,” the official said.

According to the officials, the ATS is probing the links of the mass conversion racket after it was busted with the arrest of Maulana Umar Gautam on June 21 this year. Gautam was allegedly running Islamic Dawah Centre in Delhi. So far, 14 people have been arrested in this connection from different parts of Uttar Pradesh and other states.

PROBE HAS REVEALED THAT OVER RS 20 CRORE WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE TRUST’S BANK ACCOUNT FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES