On September 5, National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided the office of New Bharat Hing Suppliers located in Nadiad, District Kheda, Gujarat, in connection to suspicious transactions worth crores possibly linked with terror funding. This company markets the well-known hing (Asafoetida) brand Krishna Hing. Reportedly, the raid started early morning on Monday and went on for 8 hours, it ended at around 3.30 PM.
આતંકી ફંડિંગ મામલે NIAના દરોડા
— News18Gujarati (@News18Guj) September 5, 2022
ગુજરાતમાં NIAના દરોડા યથાવત
આતંકી ફંડિંગની પુષ્ટી બાદ NIAની તપાસ#Gujarat #NIA #RAID @dave_janak pic.twitter.com/IjgIowfIGR
The raid was conducted by NIA with the help of Naidad Police Crime Branch and SOG. The raid was conducted after NIA received an intelligent tip on a suspected terror funding link, which indicated funds were transfered from Nadiad to Delhi to fund terror activities. As a result, the NIA team arrived at the office of the company located at Marida Road at around 5 AM on Monday.
Apart from the office of the New Bharat Heeng Suppliers, the house of its owner Asma Khan Pathan in Amdavadi Bajar Shakkarkui, Nadiad, was also raided by the investigation agency. Several important documents and electronic documents were found and seized during the raid by the NIA team.
Notably, Asma Khan is a Gujarat State Member of the Delhi Waqf Board and served as a municipal councillor in the past.
As per Gujarat Samachar, NIA got a workable tip about terror funding in Delhi against Asma Khan. The raid started early morning on September 5 and went on for over seven hours. The search operation was conducted with the help of the local crime branch and SOG, and it continued until 3:30 PM. The investigation agency sealed several important pieces of evidence, including hard disks, computers and more.
Asma Khan Pathan calls herself a ‘Modi supporter’ and has photographs with PM Modi. Some reports suggest her family used to be Congress supporters, but Asma became a BJP supporter after she got help from PM Modi in tracing his relative after Gujarat 2002 riots. There has been no official statement from BJP over the matter. NIA is yet to issue a statement.
