Bangladeshi militant among 2 convicted in Kolkata for money laundering, terror financing

A Bangladeshi militant and an Indian belonging to Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terror group have been convicted by a court in Kolkata on charges of money laundering and terror financing in connection with the Burdwan blast case of October, 2014.

The duo was convicted in the case, in which the money laundering and terror financing angles were probed by India's Enforced Directorate (ED).

The Bangladeshi national is Rahamatullah alias Sajid, a member of banned militant outfit JMB, while the Indian national is Mohammed Burhan, our New Delhi correspondent reports quoting ED officials.

Sajid and Burhan were convicted under Section 3 (offence of money laundering) of the PMLA by the city sessions court of Kolkata on Wednesday, ED officials said.

The length of punishment will be pronounced by the court on March 17, they added.

In 2014, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is investigating the terror angle of the Burdwan incident on October 2, 2014, booked Rahamtullah, Burhan and a few others under stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Explosive Substances Act.

On October 2, 2014, as per the details of the case, an explosion had taken place in a house at Khagragarh locality of Burdwan town in West Bengal resulting in the death of two persons and injury to some others.

"It was the result of a larger, ongoing conspiracy of JMB, an Islamic terrorist organisation operating primarily in Bangladesh," details the case record.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a criminal case of money laundering in connection with the Burdwan blast incident, based on an FIR filed by the NIA and later attached, under PMLA, land in Simulia village of Burdwan and two bank accounts linked to Rahamutllah and Burhan.

Officials said a property was acquired through the joint names of Rahamtullah and Burhan in Burdwan and huge amount of cash changed hands.

A charge sheet was filed by the ED's Kolkata zone in November 2018.

This is the second case in which a foreign national has been found guilty by a court under the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), ED officials said.

Previously, a Pakistani terrorist affiliated to Al-Badr was convicted under the anti-money laundering law by a Bengaluru court in 2017.