Vizag Crime Watch - Hawala racket is just tip of the iceberg

The arrest of two persons on Saturday, by a special team led by City Task Force (CTF) ACP I. Chittibabu, for running an alleged hawala transaction racket near Poorna Market in the One Town area, appears to be just the tip of an iceberg.

Though this was the first reported arrest of hawala operators in the city, the investigators say that there are many leads to be followed up, and this could be one among the many such rackets operating in the city.

The city is growing at a rapid pace and crimes such as hawala and online betting are bound to flourish with the growth, said ACP I. Chittibabu.

The police are probing the people who have availed the services of the hawala operators and the initial investigations point towards the involvement of plastic material wholesalers and merchants, scrap merchants, plastic carry bag wholesalers, kirana item wholesalers and real estate businessmen.

But sources say that the accused Chittiboyina Ramu and Raye Pardha Vinayaka Santosh Kumar, who were caught operating the hawala racket in the name of Sri Surya Traders, were just operators who were dealing with wholesale businessmen in the One Town area.

It is learnt that certain leads point towards bigger operators, who deal with real estate business, gold merchants, contractors in Visakhapatnam Port Trust, online bookies and even people running big shopping complexes and malls have links with hawala operators.

As of now it is understood that most of the hawala money is routed through some operators in Begum Bazaar in Hyderabad. These operators are further linked to bigger hawala racketeers in other cities, such as Mumbai, Pune and Delhi.

Big money

Explaining the modus operandi of the hawala racket, ACP Chittibabu said, “It is the network for instant black money transaction. If one businessman has to pay a manufacturer or another businessman in black money in another city within India or abroad, he or she would deposit the money with the local hawala operator and who would in turn instruct the hawala counterpart in the other city to deliver the same amount to the manufacturer or to the other businessman. The entire episode runs on codes and it has become easier with the advent of modern cellphones.”

The hawala operators at both the ends thrive on commissions varying from one to five per cent, depending on the nature and amount of black money transacted.

According to the police, the operators caught in the city on Saturday, were transacting about Rs. 1 crore, both inward and outward flow, and were charging a commission rate from 1 to 2 per cent, thus making a cut of at least Rs. 1 to 2 lakh, a day.

I-T department has a role

The CTF after receiving the information had kept the operators under surveillance for over 10 days, before zeroing down and catching them red-handed. It is learnt that many others are on the radar, but sources in the police say that the Income Tax people should delve deep into it to get the main guys arrested, as it is not only their responsibility but they also understand better the financial irregularities. The arrested were booked under Sections 41 and 102 of Cr. PC, with reference to the I-T Department for further probe.

ACP I. Chittibabu says the city is growing at a rapid pace and crimes such as hawala and online betting are bound to flourish

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