PESHAWAR: Forty five people were arrested in a joint operation on Thursday in Peshwar’s Chowk Yadgar currency market which is believed to be a hub of illegal money changers. Those arrested were suspected of involvement in the hundi (informal money transactions) business.

Superintendent Police (SP) City Imtiaz said the 45 suspects were running currency businesses without documentation. Among them is the Sarafa bazaar president.

Faiz Market and Warid market inside Chowk Yadgar’s Sarafa bazaar were also sealed in the joint raid conducted by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Counter-terrorism Department (CTD) and police, FIA Assistant Director Qazi Abdul Hameed said.

The FIA AD said the operation against illegal money changers and hundi falls under the ambit of the National Action Plan (NAP).

The FIA and CTD received intelligence on terrorist organisations accessing funds by means of hundi in Chowk Yadgar, security sources said.

Hawala and Hundi have been identified as possible sources of terror financing by officials.

The informal transactions also cause a loss to the national exchequer of billions of rupees every month, according to a four-member commission appointed by the Supreme Court to check illegal border crossing at the Torkham border.