New Delhi Luo Song alias Charlie Peng, the leader of a multi-billion dollar hawala gang operating in Delhi-NCR, has been arrested. Song is suspected to be an agent of the Chinese Intelligence Service. Song is suspected to be associated with China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS).
Top intelligence sources said that Sang had created a fake Indian identity in the name of Charlie Peng through fake Aadhaar cards and travel documents. Earlier Delhi Police arrested him in 2018 on espionage charges.
Luo Song, a permanent resident of Cheng Guan Xu in Lhasa, Tibet, allegedly came into contact with the MSS in Lhasa about seven to eight years ago, which serves as China’s external intelligence agency.
Sources say that he was initially sent to Nepal, where he was helped by officials of the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu. Sources said that he is trained in money exchange and hawala operations as well as account related works.
Sources said that after that he had come to India, where he was deeply gathering information on the whereabouts of Tibetan refugees and people close to the Dalai Lama in India.
On September 13, 2018, the Special Cell of the Delhi Police arrested Luo Song for his involvement in espionage operations in India and seized a fake Indian passport purchased from him from Manipur.
During interrogation, it was revealed that he arrived in India in 2013 and settled in Manipur. He married an Indian woman and lived in a rented house. Time spent in the Northeast Kingdom enabled Luo Song to acquire an Indian identity, which was necessary for his further work.
A few years ago he came to Delhi from Manipur.
Sources said that Luo Song was familiar with Delhi and lived in Dwarka before shifting to DLF Phase-5, Gurugram. It is suspected that he was being controlled from across the border by the MSS.
In Delhi, he started collecting information about Tibetan people living in the NCR. He joined the money exchange and hawala operations to further his espionage operations. He was also collecting information about e-commerce companies and financial institutions.
The Special Cell team recovered an SUV Fortuner, foreign currency and some important documents of Luo Song when he was caught on suspicion of visiting some sensitive places in Himachal Pradesh and border areas in 2018. Sources said the Chinese agent used some contacts to gain bail after spending months in jail after being produced in court by the Delhi Police.
The Income Tax Department on Tuesday arrested some Chinese individuals and Indian professionals for allegedly engaging in money laundering and hawala transactions. These people also included Luo Song, one of the masterminds.
The department revealed that Luo Song operated more than 40 bank accounts, which were linked to several shell companies. The department said that hawala operations were related to transactions of over Rs 1,000 crore. At present, Luo Song’s intense questioning by various central agencies continues.
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