13/7: Delhi jeweller held for ‘hawala link’

Pathreja was arrested late yesterday evening with the assistance of the Delhi Police Special Cell and remanded to police custody till February 10 by a Mumbai court.

The ATS believes he was the hawala link in a money trail starting outside the country and leading up to Yasin Bhatkal,the alleged main conspirator and Indian Mujahideen co-founder. The entire amount of Rs 10 lakh allegedly used for the blasts is believed to have been exchanged in “one shot” in the “early part of 2011”. Bhatkal allegedly then passed the money to Naqi Ahmed through Nadeem Akhtar,both of whom are under arrest.

Rakesh Maria,Additional Director General (ATS),said Pathreja was the “main person in the hawala chain” and is expected to lead them to others in the financial trail. Officials believe “at least four to five” people may have been involved in the hawala business. “We had been working on this for five months since September and could get him only now,” said Maria.

He claimed while the money came via a “circuitous route”,“we have some very good cogent evidence”. Maria made special mention of the Delhi Police Special Cell,sharing credit of Pathreja’s arrest with its Joint Commissioner P N Agrawal.

Three others,Ahmed,Akthar and Haroon Hamid,have been held by the ATS for alleged role in the blasts. Pathreja has been charged under “all the sections of UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) and sections for abetting,aiding and conspiracy”.