May 03, 2007

Jaish investing in Indian real estate to raise funds

Lending weight to India's stand that terrorists are infiltrating into businesses, a US report on terrorism has said pro-Pakistan Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) was investing in the commodity market and real estate to raise funds for its terrorist activities. The report titled, "Country Terrorism Report", prepared by the US State Department, said the JeM, led by Maulana Masood Azhar, who was released by India in exchange of hijacked passengers in 1999, had withdrawn funds from bank accounts in anticipation of asset seizures by the Pakistan government. National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, at a conference in Munich in February this year, had said the manipulation of stock exchanges was the new modus operandi used by terrorist groups to raise funds for their operations. The terrorist groups are involved in legitimate business enterprises like restaurants, real estate agencies and shipping and use part of their proceeds to siphon off funds for their terrorist activities, he had said.