KARACHI: While the Sindh government has taken several steps to curb generation of funds by outlawed organisations and militant networks, it is facing what many authorities described as a lack of sufficient cooperation from three main federal bodies — the State Bank of Pakistan, Federal Board of Revenue and Federal Investigation Agency — to further augment its efforts, it emerged on Saturday.

The provincial government had recently banned collection of donations by United Nations-listed organisations, established a Countering Financing Terrorism Unit (CFTU) and arrested several suspected militants involved in terror financing in the province.

Sources said that the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Sindh police had asked the authorities concerned to provide it data of account holders and empower its investigators to probe terror financing and money laundering on the pattern of the FIA.

The CTD wants FIA powers for probing money laundering, other financial cases

They said that the issue of countering financing of terrorism in the country came under deliberations in the sixth meeting of the Task Force on Countering Financing of Terrorism organised recently by the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) in Islamabad.

The sources said that several problems such as Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issues, use of cyber technology for fundraising for illicit activities, maintaining data of all counterterrorism and countering financing terrorism cases, possible misuse of certain non-governmental organisations for terror financing and others came under deliberations.

Sindh CTD chief Dr Sanaullah Abbasi had briefed the meeting about steps so far taken by the provincial government.

He told Dawn that he had proposed that CTD investigators should be authorised like FIA investigators to investigate the cases of terror financing and money laundering.

He suggested that in order to improve counterterrorism financing regime, it was imperative that investigating officers of the antiterrorism cases should be authorised to have direct access to bank accounts of high-profile terror suspects to verify their transactions to ascertain whether these were linked to terror financing.

He proposed that in order to collect evidence in terror financing well before the trial, every stakeholder should be duty-bound to provide information besides concurrent jurisdiction over such cases may be given between the FIA and CTD to pave the way for swift action by CTD itself to proceed further in important investigations without further procedural delays.

Lack of ‘sufficient’ cooperation

Mr Abbasi claimed that the CTD had arrested many high-profile terrorists and during the course of investigation, identified a number of bank accounts which might be used in terror financing.

Hence from time to time, the FIA and SBP were requested for obtaining bank records and details of transactions made through such accounts to trail the source of funding of the held suspects and to proceed further in investigation, he said, adding that “no significant and timely cooperation was experienced in this regard”.

Despite the fact that the FIA and SBP had a key role in ongoing efforts to curb the terror financing menace, “these impediments with regard to investigation and information gathering about funding of terrorist activities in turn negatively impact the process of investigation and may also affect the award of exemplary sentences to terrorists”.

The CTD chief said that the Sindh home department had recently imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code under which UN-listed entities will not be allowed to raise public funds, collect donations and hides of sacrificial animals, run advertisement campaigns through banners, placards or any other form of print media/electronic media or run such services which are ostensibly for public good.

Proposal to set up financial data centre

CTD chief Abbasi disclosed that he also proposed establishment of a ‘National Financial Data Centre’ as it would be helpful for ongoing investigation/inquiries and also for scrutiny of suspicious transactions.

Dr Abbasi opined that an investigation into terror financing cases was a “cumbersome process” and they needed information of all account holders by the SBP like they had access to National Database Registration Authority’s database for investigation.

He said that in a few terrorism cases police were only taking action against those low-level suspects who had no knowledge of financiers or their upper-level leadership as they were operating as sleeper cells.

He claimed that main financing came through charities and the CTD had recently prepared a draft law to regulate such charities.

New CTD unit to probe terror financing

The Sindh CTD had also set up a Countering Financing Terrorism Unit (CFTU), but its personnel were required to be equipped with modern techniques of financial investigation.

The CFTU was functioning under the supervision of the SSP Investigation of the CTD Sindh. The unit comprised of one DSP, one sub-inspector, one junior clerk and two constables.

Two DSPs of the CTD had recently attended one-week training programme for the National Task Force on CTF conducted by Nacta in Islamabad. The officer in charge of the unit had also completed a course on terrorism financing at the National Police Academy, Islamabad.

However, CTD head Abbasi proposed that the officers/staff working in this unit should receive further professional training by the FIA/SBP and FBR.

The CTD had so far arrested seven suspected militants linked with banned outfits such as Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and other outfits.

All these arrests were made in Karachi and the arrested accused were allegedly involved in terror financing and cases against them were pending in courts. So far, only one accused of terror financing was convicted, said the CTD chief.

CTD’s counterterrorism strategy

Mr Abbasi disclosed that the CTD had also prepared a “counterterrorism strategy” and the provincial government had shared it with the federal government and other provinces.

Talking about salient features of the proposed strategy, he said he believed that the best way to defeat terrorism was to isolate and localise its activities and then defeat it through intensive and sustained action.

The strategy also called for denying sponsorship, support and sanctuary to terrorists, which will weaken terrorist outfits and their ability to conduct operations. The proposed strategy also called for diminishing the “underlying conditions” that terrorists seek to exploit.

It also recommended the establishment of a ‘Terrorist Threat Integration Centre’ (TTIC) for information sharing among the provinces and law enforcers.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2018