Lucknow, Aug 5 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate has arrested and questioned Naveen Rohra, a key aide of self-styled spiritual leader Chhangur Baba involved in unlawful religious conversions using foreign funds, an official said on Tuesday.

Naveen Rohra was grilled on the conspiracy involving unlawful religious conversions, utilisation of foreign funding and activities posing a potential threat to national security, the official said.

The Lucknow Zonal Office of the federal agency arrested Rohra on Monday and, soon after, got his custody till August 8 from a Special PMLA Court, Lucknow.

Rohra is alleged to have transferred at least Rs 1 crore to Shahzad Sheikh, a Mumbai-based financial associate of Chhangur Babas.

Sheikh is suspected of offering hawala services to handle the funds of the controversial spiritual leader.

On July 17, ED investigators scanned and seized bank accounts, property documents and digital records at Sheikh’s Bandra and Mahim properties.

Apart from Mumbai, 12 locations in Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur were also searched by the ED in connection with money laundering linked to the alleged religious conversion racket.

The operation was part of a probe into money laundering through shell companies linked to members of an alleged multi-state religious conversion racket headed by Chhangur Babas.

The searches in Mumbai followed suspicion that Chhangur Baba received funds, including donations, from Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Nepal. The illegal transactions involved up to almost Rs 200-300 crore.

Members of Chhangur Baba’s network reportedly travelled to Islamic countries nearly 40 times and opened over 40 bank accounts linked to shell organisations.

The search in Mahim was conducted at Rizvi Heights in the presence of Sheikh, who was also questioned about the funds received in his bank account and their intended use.

The ED suspects that Sheikh received the funds for unlawful activities, including religious conversions and the disruption of public order.

Investigators continue to pursue or interrogate the remaining suspects, including individuals identified as Mehboob, Pinky Harijan, Hazira Shankar, Sagir, and a person claiming to be a journalist, Amen Rizvi.

–IANS

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