Mumbai Crime Branch to write to ED over hawala operator's underworld nexus

Harish Gyanchandani

The Mumbai Crime Branch wants to dig out details of the alleged nexus between arrested angadia (hawala operator) Harish Gyanchandani, 41, and the underworld, whose money he allegedly transported from Dubai to Mumbai.

According to sources from the Crime Branch, they are planning to write a letter to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the same. They have already communicated to the Income Tax (I-T) department and given them related documents to find out more about the alleged nexus, and how Gyanchandani worked and laundered money across India and abroad.

A Crime Branch official said, "We have handed over documents related to Gyanchandani to the I-T department which is scanning the flow of money." On June 28, the Mumbai police's Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) arrested Gyanchandani, who had allegedly transported over Rs 3 lakh to Ramdas Rahane, the aide of gangster Dawood Ibrahim, who was arrested recently. He had allegedly helped Dawood's brother Anees transport the Rs 3.48 lakh from Dubai to Rahane. Police also found Rs 93 lakh cash in his office. They also suspect that he had been working for Anees Ibrahim for a while.

Police have recovered five books from the accused in which he has noted all money transactions in code language. They also revealed that angadias destroy all books every 4 to 5 months so that they can keep investigation agencies in the dark. Police are scanning all records to find his transactions in the recent past.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates