Terrorists in cities, Patil worried

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Friday said that terrorist threat to major cities has increased and it is a major cause for concern.

This statement comes close on the heels of National Security Advisor MK Narayan's comment on terrorist threat prevailing over our stock exchange.

"Terrorists, instead of operating from jungles are now setting up bases in the middle of cities and are carrying out their tasks causing huge concerns for the country," says Patil.

The shocking revelation by National Security Adviser M K Narayanan that terrorist groups are manipulation the markets as their new modus operandi to raise funds for their operations has sent shockwaves through the entire economic setup.

Narayanan specifically mentioned that several fictitious companies have operated in Mumbai and Chennai stock exchanges and their roots have been traced to terror outfits. Narayanan dropped this bombshell at the 43rd Conference on Security Policy in Munich last week.

Narayanan said that terrorists often moved funds to the actual locale where attack is perpetrated. Terrorist outfits, as a rule, employ money laundering techniques so as to evade detection by enforcement agencies.

The most popular means employed in South Asia for laundering funds, is the ‘underground and parallel banking system’ which ensures placing of funds without actual or visible movement of money.

A combination of conventional money-laundering techniques, with placement of funds utilising the ‘underground and parallel banking system’ has made it extremely difficult to track funds utilised for terrorist purposes, since no audit or paper trail is available.

The globalisation of terror, and the ability of terrorists to exploit state-of-the-art technology, thus further enhances their capability to move ‘hot money’ across international borders.

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