NEW DELHI, Nov 19 - India has frozen assets worth Euro 3 lakh (over Rs 2.12 crore) of over three dozen entities on charges of terrorist financing and money laundering of illicit funds, a latest report by global anti-financial terror body Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has said.
The body has conducted a mid-session review of various countries and economic powers of the world in the wake of the increased activities of dreaded terrorist group, ISIS, around the globe.
The banned group has been held responsible for the recent terror attacks in Paris that killed 129 people.
As part of India�s initiative against suspect funds and those related to terrorism, the FATF report said the country has frozen assets to the tune of Euro 3 lakh belonging to 37 entities till August 15 this year.
India is a full-member of this reputed global body, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), along with other nations like the US, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
�In light of the growing threat of ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) and other terrorist groups, the FATF has taken a renewed focus on the global threat of terrorist financing and terrorism and conducted a fact-finding initiative to determine whether all jurisdictions in the global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing network have implemented key measures to cut off terrorism-related financial flows, in accordance with the FATF recommendations.
�This report sets out the results of that exercise,� a report prepared in this regard for the perusal by G20 leaders said.
The G20 nations, including India being represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Turkey�s Antayla, last week had resolved to seek urgent and united global efforts to combat terrorism as the gruesome Paris attacks, war in Syria and the fight against Islamic State militants overshadowed the deliberations at the Summit.
The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 and it is mandated to set global protocols and standards to combat money laundering and other financial crimes with direct ramifications to terrorist acts across the globe.
In related findings for India, the FATF in a report brought out last month, chronicled the use of banking channels to fund the activities of the banned terror group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM). The group has carried out many attacks and killings in India including in the Kashmir Valley.
The global body, quoting official submissions made by Indian investigators to it, said the HM raised over Rs 80 crore in the last eight years for �furthering terror activities� in India.
�An ongoing investigation in India alleges that Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) has been receiving funds originating from Pakistan through different channels in support of its terrorist activities in India. HM is claimed to be actively involved in furthering terrorist activities in India and has raised over INR 800 million within the past eight years. This group has been designated as a terrorist organisation by India, US and the European Union. � PTI
