The Public Security Department of the Home Ministry has prepared a list of 625 hundi traders who were smuggling Tk 50,000 crore every year out of the country. The Hundi dealers are mostly political leaders and well known businessmen of the country. The Public Security Department of the Home Ministry wrote to the police HQs, DG RAB office and PMO suggesting formation of especial task forces to arrest them. Money through informal channel like Hundi leads to the rise of siphoning money out of the country. According to the report the risk of hundi is that the money can easily go to the wrong hands for terrorism and other subversive activities. The research body calls for a probe into the matter.
A majority of the people of the minority community in Bangladesh also send most of their earnings across the border through hundi as they do not feel safe to disclose their wealth through the legal channel, and also to save the money in a foreign bank, according to the report.A team has already started to prepare the list of the masterminds to arrest them after verification of the list.A high official at the Police HQs told the Daily Observer that the list of Hundi dealers of Rajshahi, Dhaka, Khulna Chattogram, Sylhet and Barisal was sent from the Home Ministry.
In Chattogram division, they have identified 145 Hundi traders, among them, 32 are in Chittagong Sadar, 23 in Brahmanbaria, 6 in Feni, 28 in Lakshmipur, 51 in Cumilla, 32 in Chandpur, 70 in Cox's Bazar, 8 in Noakhali and the remaining in the Chittagong districts. Of them 87 are in Naogaon district , 11 in Pabna, 15 in Sirajganj and Bogura each, seven in Natore, 16 in Joypurhat, 18 in Chapainawabganj and the remaining in Rajshahi districts.
The number of masterminds in Khulna division is 72. Among them, eight are in Jessore, 13 in Jhenaidah, seven in Narail, five in Kushtia, seven in Bagerhat and the remaining in Khulna districts. Of 66 masterminds in Rangpur division, five are in Kurigram, seven in Gaibandha, seven in Dinajpur, seven in Thakurgaon, five in Lalmonirhat and six in Nilphamari and remaining in Rangpur districts. The Dhaka division tops the list with 153 masterminds. Among them, six are in Manikganj, seven in Mymensingh, six in Narayanganj, 14 in Netrokona, seven in Sherpur, six in Jamalpur, nine in Tangail, nine in Gazipur and five in Narshingdi and the rest in Dhaka districts.
So far 56 masterminds have been identified in Barisal division. Among them, eight are in Jhalakathi, five in Pirojpur, four in Patuakhali and 15 in Bhola and the rest in Barisal districts. The Sylhet division has 46 masterminds - 16 in Moulvibazar, 13 in Habiganj, 17 in Sunamganj and the remainder in Barisal districts.
According to report politicians and businessmen send money illegally from Bangladesh through different informal channels, including hundi. But the tough law has no definition for hundi, which is very popular among the common people for quick handover of funds, and with better exchange rates.
"Many of the businessmen, politicians and industrialists have set up Hundi business establishments and bought houses in eight to 10 countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Canada, Dubai, the US and Switzerland.
Hundi is an illegitimate or informal way of transferring money from one country to another through unlicensed individual brokers. "The number of our wage earners is growing abroad. But then why the remittance inflow is not increasing," he questioned. He said unlike other South Asian nations, Bangladesh is in the negative with regards to remittance. Moreover, the overall condition in our biggest market, Middle East, is not very good, he added.According to report Tk 50,000 crore is smuggled every year by Hundi across the country.
