Bank accounts of Kanpur riots accused under scanner

Kanpur, June 9 (IANS) The bank accounts of Hayat Zafar Hashmi, the main accused in the Kanpur violence, are now under scanner, police said.

The police have launched a probe into the possibilities of foreign funding to Hayat, after it was found that he had received a total of Rs 3.54 crore into one of his four bank accounts in July 2019.

The details of one of his accounts at a private bank in Babupurwa area of Kanpur reveal that a transaction of Rs 3.54 crore was made in his account on July 30, 2019.

An amount of Rs 98 lakh was similarly withdrawn from the same account in September 2021, said a Special Investigation Team (SIT) official.

At present, Rs 1.27 crore are left in this account.

Hayat also owns a fair price shop.

"First, we are looking into the sources of money and then the purpose for which it was being used. Later, we will ascertain if the transactions were legal," the SIT official added.

Sources said that Hayat has two more bank accounts from which transactions have also been made.

"Till now, transactions worth Rs 47.6 crore have been made from the other three accounts in the last three years. Now, the accounts show a balance of just Rs 11 lakh. The ED teams may also interrogate him and his associates regarding the foreign funding if any," the SIT official said.

These accounts were opened in 2019.

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has asked the police to investigate if minors were also used as shields in the May 3 clashes and initiate action against those responsible.

On behalf of the Commission, a letter has been sent to the state police headquarters and the Kanpur's Commissioner of Police directing action against such people under the Child Protection Act.

After coming across the posters that the police had made viral on Monday, a teenager had surrendered at the Colonelganj police station on Tuesday.

When the minor boy's family saw his picture on the poster, they took him to the Colonelganj police station.

The Commission has requested that the matter must be investigated by registering a case under section of the Juvenile Justice Act and the IPC.

The Commission has also requested to produce the juvenile, who surrendered in Colonelganj before the Child Welfare Committee.

The violence that broke out in Beconganj and adjoining areas of Kanpur on June 3 when some people tried to stage a protest and asked locals to close their business establishments over the alleged religiously insulting remarks made by BJP leader Nupur Sharma.

At least a dozen people were injured in the stone pelting and 57 arrests have been made.