Concerned at the increased flow of money to banned terrorist outfits Al-Qaeda and Taliban, a special notification has been issued to all banks and financial institutions in the country by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In the notification, RBI has urged banks to stop opening bank accounts of suspected terrorists and prevent all kinds of dubious financial transactions.
To make the order more precise, RBI has also issued list of names linked to both these outfits in its official website.
The notification dated November 11, 2009, states that a resolution has been passed in UN, stating Al-Qaeda and Taliban are collecting funds from local groups in various countries, including India.
In order to prevent this, the RBI has asked all banks and financial institutions in the country, to verify every minute detail before opening account of people having name in the list. It has also urged to check all transactions — if there is any account — and report back with details. The RBI has directed banks to provide proof that none of the persons having names in the list has account with them.
At present, RBI has issued four new names — Faisal Bagnami, Jaamal Hussaini, Nasim Ramzani Shaharki and Merai Jogwai — who are associated with Al Qaeda and Taliban as per the UN Security Council resolution. With this, the UN has issued 23 other names of people who are believed to have links with both the banned outfits.
Banks and financial institutions in Surat are checking all the records, to find out if there is any account operated by persons included in the list.
"We have received the notification of the RBI and are verifying our records to detect any such account used to fund banned outfits. RBI has also said that banned outfits are getting hefty financial help from Gujarat, including Surat and Ahmedabad. We have been asked to submit daily reports of accounts to prevent any errors," Jatin Naik, an official of Surat People's Bank, said. Naik added that the RBI has observed that Gujarat is proving the safest route for transferring funds to outfits, as there is minimal scrutiny by banks while transferring funds.
Another reason is that the state has maximum number of NRIs, who transfer money in crores each year, he added.
