SRINAGAR: After the designation of 10 individuals as terrorists by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) earlier this month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks and other financial institutions to report to the government details about accounts resembling the identified individuals.
In a communication released on Thursday addressing chairpersons/CEOs of all the Regulated Entities, the Central Bank advised to refer to the Gazette notifications dated October 4, 2022, of the MHA in respect of 10 individuals who have been declared “terrorists” and have been listed in the schedule IV of the UAPA 1967, under section 35(1) (a) of UAPA 1967.
“Regulated Entities (REs) are advised to take note of the aforementioned Gazette notifications issued by MHA for necessary compliance. REs shall also take note of any future amendments to Schedule IV of the UAPA, 1967, for immediate necessary compliance,” the RBI said in a notification signed by Chief General Manager Santosh Kumar Panigrahy.
Pertinent to mention that as per the RBI’s master direction on know your customer: “Details of accounts resembling any of the individuals/entities in the lists shall be reported to FIU-IND apart from advising the Ministry of Home Affairs”. The master directions were initially issued on February 25, 2016, and were later amended on May 10, 2021.
The Reserve Bank’s REs include banks, all-India financial institutions (viz.Exim Bank, NABARD, NHB, SIDBI, and NaBFID), and NBFCs.
Earlier on October 4, the MHA designated a total of 10 members of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and other proscribed outfits as terrorists under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Those designated as terrorists include Habibullah Malik alias Sajid Jutt, a Pakistani national, Basit Ahmad Reshi, who hails from north Kashmir’s district Baramulla but is currently based in Pakistan, Imtiyaz Ahmad Kandoo alias Sajad, from Sopore but now lives in Pakistan, Zafar Iqbal alias Salim, who is from Poonch but presently residing in Pakistan, and Sheikh Jameel-ur-Rehman alias Sheikh Sahab, who hails from Pulwama.
The others are Bilal Ahmad Beigh alias Babar from Srinagar, currently based in Pakistan, Rafiq Nai alias Sultan of Poonch, Irshad Ahmad alias Idrees from Doda, Bashir Ahmad Peer alias lmtiyaz of Kupwara and Showkat Ahmad Sheikh alias Showkat Mochi of Baramulla, currently based in Pakistan.
In separate notifications, the MHA said “Habibullah Malik was the key handler of the terrorists who carried out an attack on Indian soldiers in Poonch and has been involved in air-dropping of arms and communication systems through drones in the Jammu region for terrorists based in Jammu and Kashmir.”
