ED Enquiry takes, find Hurriyat leader involvement in 26/11

According to one sources of the Enforcement Directorate "common link between funds allegdly recieved from Italy by Firdauss Ahmad Shah of the Hurriyat conference used to det up VoIP account used by the 26/11 Mumbai attack Handlers has now emerged".

Investigators have said that Shah received money from Western Union Money Transfer agent ‘Madina Trading’ in Brescia, Italy, from a sender identified as Javed Iqbal. Iqbal, identified as a Pakistani national, was also named as one of the 35 wanted accused in the 26/11 chargesheet filed by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch.

However, the Italian police have since learnt that Iqbal’s identity may have been stolen when he used another money transfer agency in Pakistan.

The Enforcement Directorate, in its chargesheet, has charged Shah, Chairman of the Democratic Political Movement, with using money sent from Italy for terror financing. The chargesheet also names Shah’s close confidant, Yar Mohammed Khan, sources said.

“They received money from Italy through Western Union Money Transfer. The agent, Madina Trading, and sender, Javed Iqbal, have also cropped up during investigations and are part of the ED chargesheet,” a source confirmed.

According to the ED, Shah received over Rs 3 crore from Italy between 2007 and 2010, which was allegedly used for terror funding. There are 300 instances of money transfers from Italy identified by the ED, sources said.

In the 26/11 case, Iqbal is alleged to have wired funds for setting up an account with New Jersey-based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider Callphonex. Calls between the 26/11 gunmen and their Pakistan-based controllers during the attack were routed through this VoIP account. Aided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Crime Branch unearthed details of the manner in which the Callphonex account was set up by another wanted accused identified as Kharak Singh.

Two payments were made to Callphonex for the account. On October 27, 2008, the initial payment of $ 250 was wired to Callphonex via MoneyGram, receipt number 80700471903880005473. The sender was identified as Muhammed Ishfaq.

On November 25, 2008, the second payment of $ 229 was wired to Callphonex via Western Union Money Transfer receipt number 8364307716-0. The sender of this payment was identified as Iqbal. He used Western Union Money Transfer agent Madina Trading, located in Brescia, Italy, to make the payment to Callphonex. For identification, Iqbal provided Madina Trading a Pakistani passport number KC092481. On November 21, 2009, two Pakistani employees of Madina Trading in Brescia — Mohammad Yaqub Janijua and his son Aamer Yaqub Janijua — were arrested by the Italian anti-terrorism police for aiding and abetting international terrorism as well as illegal financial activity.