An Islamic cleric and a businessman were arrested by the Assam police for their alleged involvement in a hawala transaction amounting to Rs 8.45 lakh, which was sent from Kuwait.

Nurul Islam, the principal of the Jamia Islamia Salafia Arabic college in Barpeta, was arrested after an amount of Rs 8.45 lakh in cash was recovered from him, Barpeta Superintendent of Police (SP) Robin Kumar said on Wednesday.

"During interrogation, Islam confessed that the money had come through a hawala channel from Kuwait," Kumar told PTI over phone.

A Guwahati-based businessman, Arun Saraf, was also arrested by the police for allegedly facilitating the hawala transaction.

Kumar also said a cash amount of nearly Rs 28 lakh was deposited by Islam in the bank account of the college in three separate transactions since December, 2018.

"The accused has not been able to tell us from where this money came and the nature of the expenditure," he added.

The SP did not rule out the possibility that the money would have been spent on anti-social activities.

"Our investigations are on," he said.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) joined the police probe and questioned both Islam and Saraf about the source of the money.

The hawala system works essentially through an underground network, where a handler in one country or place accepts cash from a customer and then a handler in another country or place hands out the equivalent amount (minus commission) to the receiver.

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