Mastermind behind Gorakhpur terror funding case arrested in Pune

Ramesh Shah

In a major catch, a joint team of the Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra ATS arrested 28-year-old Ramesh Shah, the mastermind behind the Gorakhpur terror funding case, from a suburb in Pune on Thursday morning. Sources said Shah had been on the run ever since the case was filed in UP on March 24 this year. He had gone underground and the agencies were tracking him for some time, sources said. As per sources, Shah would collect funds from various parts of the country and transfer them on the instructions of his Pakistani handler.

Collected funds for Pak handler Sources said the questioning has revealed that only Shah was aware of the amounts and the bank accounts and used to operate them on the instructions of his handler. He used hawala as well as net banking to transfer the funds as per instructions from his Pakistan-based handler. From the probe, officials of UP ATS have found that Shah has sent funds to the Middle East, Kerala, North East and Jammu and Kashmir. As per officials, more than Rs 1 crore is suspected to have exchanged hands between the Pakistani handler and terror operatives; major funds coming from the Middle East, Jammu and Kashmir, and Kerala, and distributed to various states. As per sources, Shah is an expert in computers and his Pakistani handler used to instruct him only via Internet calls.

Operated a shop
Sources said Shah runs a shop, Satyam Shopping Mart, and after the case in UP, he had come to Pune and was staying in one of the sensitive areas for over a month and half. Six persons involved in criminal conspiracy, and distributing money into various bank accounts on the instructions given by a Pakistani handler, were arrested on March 24 from Gorakhpur. The UP police have filed a case of cheating, forgery and conspiracy, apart from other sections of the Indian Penal Code and are further probing the case. Shah is in transit remand and has been taken to Lucknow for further probe by the team of UP ATS.

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