Oct 13, 2015, at 06:17 pm
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management On September 24, 2015, a fake lottery scam, with suspected hawala (illegal money transactions) linkages, was unearthed in West Bengal. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), based on inputs from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), exposed the racket and seized INR 200 million in raids. As many as nine locations in Kolkata and one in Siliguri of Darjeeling District were raided. According to reports available, of these, as many as 20 sacks of notes were seized from two locations in Kolkata and one in Siliguri. An unnamed senior intelligence official disclosed, "It is a lottery-hawala-money laundering racket. Money seized was being transferred by hawalaon Thursday [September 24] to Dubai. We are looking at further nodes there".