Ahmedabad: Gujarat Police have arrested three Syrian nationals accused of collecting funds from mosques by falsely claiming the money was for victims of the Gaza conflict. Officials said the men spent the donations on luxury rather than humanitarian relief.
According to the Ahmedabad crime branch, the accused were part of a four-member group that entered India on tourist visas on August 8. One member, Ali Meghat Al-Azhar, was detained on August 22. During interrogation, he admitted that the group approached mosques in Gujarat pretending to be residents of Gaza and seeking financial help. He revealed that the money collected was misused.
Based on passport details shared by Al-Azhar, police issued a Look Out Circular for the remaining three. They were identified as Zakaria Haitham Al-Zaher, 34, Ahmed Ohad Alhabash, 27, and Yusuf Khalid Al-Zaher, 27. The trio, who are related to each other, were intercepted by immigration authorities at Delhi Airport while attempting to board a flight to Dubai. Officials said they had planned to return to Syria from Dubai.
A team from the Ahmedabad crime branch brought them back from Delhi on Saturday. Police recovered 2,985 US dollars from the accused. Investigators said the men stayed for nearly two weeks at a mosque in the Shah-E-Alam area of Ahmedabad, where they solicited donations from worshippers. They later moved to Delhi but were unable to collect funds from mosques there.
Authorities have started the process of blacklisting and deporting the Syrians for violating visa rules.
