Pushpita Das replies: The location of India between Golden Triangle and Gold Crescent not only results in the trafficking of drugs and narcotics produced in these regions into India but also in a reverse flow of precursor chemicals from India.

Vivek Chadha replies: Crime and terrorism can potentially have a very close linkage. While there may or may not always be a linkage between the two, however, both international case studies and those in India do point towards it.

If we look at some of the regions in the country affected by terrorism, this linkage becomes apparent. In the Northeast, extortion is the fundamental basis for funding all forms of terrorism. In addition to this, kidnapping has been used extensively for spreading terror and raising funds. Human trafficking, drug trafficking and gun running are some of the other criminal activities that have been common in these areas.

In J&K, counterfeit currency has been a major source of funding terrorism.

In the Maoist terror movements, extortion is yet again a common phenomenon. They have also indulged in robberies of banks to fund their movement. There have also been reports of cuts being enforced on drug yielding crops in the region.

The Indian Mujahideen has also resorted to crime to raise funds. This includes robberies, kidnappings, etc.

There are also a number of insurgent groups which over a period of time have morphed into crime syndicates. What began as an ideological movement is now merely a means of generating profit. This is especially the case with insurgent groups in Northeast India.

Vivek Chadha replies: There are a number of sources of finance for the Hurriyat and terrorist groups in Kashmir. Most of the sources emanate from across the border in Pakistan or controlled by Pakistan through West Asia. The sources of finance include narco-financing which comes from the control of narcotics trade in the AfPak region. It also emanates from donations both within Pakistan and West Asia. This is either from charities openly involved in collection like the JuD and others which use charities as fronts to collect money. A percentage of infusion of money comes through counterfeit currency. Criminal activities and legitimate businesses are also being operated to generate money for separatists.

This collection is routed through a number of means. It comes through physical smuggling of currency. It is also routed through hawala which has emerged as the largest network for pumping money in India. Trade based induction of money is also on the increase. And lastly, legitimate banking channels are employed to send money in small quantities in order to avoid suspicion.