Feature
David Headley confesses of receiving terror funds from ISI, LeT
Mumbai: In a video-conferencing from an undisclosed location, terrorist-turned-approver David Coleman Headley today confessed of getting terror funds from both the LeT and Pakistan’s ISI, which was used to perform terror activity in India.
Continuing his deposition via video-conferencing from a US jail before Special TADA Court Judge G.A. Sanap, Headley said that the funds came through both Major Iqbal of Pakistan’s Inter Service Intelligence and his main contact in LeT Sajid Mir, besides his LeT associate, medico Tahawwur Rana, currently undergoing a 14-year jail in the US.
Rana had given an amount of around Rs.67,605 in October 2006, followed by $500 the next month (November 2006), another Rs.17,636 that month-end, and in December 2006, $1,000.
Besides, Headley said he had received $25,000 before he left for India, another Pakistani Rs.40,000 from Sajid Mir and Indian Rs.2000 from Major Iqbal that year, in January 2008, LeT’s Major Pasha gave Rs.80,000 while Major Iqbal gave another Rs.1,500.
During questioning by Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, he said on one or two occasions, Major Iqbal had also given him counterfeit currency notes.
Headley said Rana had visited Mumbai before the 26/11 terror attacks and was advised to leave for his own safety before they were actually executed.
Earlier, Headley told the Mumbai Special TADA Court that the Reserve Bank of India had rejected his application seeking clearance to open a business account in June 2007.
Making this revelation, Headley said he had received funds for terror from both LeT and Pakistan’s ISI which was used for gathering intelligence and other works in India, including starting a business.
With this funding, Headley said, he opened an office in south Mumbai’s Tardeo area on September 14, 2006 and the following month, on October 12, 2006, he even applied to Reserve Bank of India for permission to open a business account.
Interestingly, his visa consultant in Chicago, Raymond Sanders – who had earlier assisted him in procuring an Indian visa with false information – also helped him in the RBI formality, but the country’s apex bank rejected the application on June 1, 2007.
In January 2007, hoping to launch a business in India, Headley had hired an office in Tardeo A/C Market for Rs.13,500 per month and named his landlord as Vora and Maroo Bharucha who was his secretary at the office.
The opening of office and application to open a business bank account were in consonance with the earlier plans by his handlers who wanted him to start a business in India.
Thursday’s deposition was in continuation of the evidence which he recorded since Monday, with a day’s interruption on Wednesday owing to a technical glitch in the videolink.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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