Police arrested three Syrian men—Zakariya Haitham Alzar, Yousef Al-Zahar, and Ahmed Alhabash—at Delhi airport while they were attempting to flee to Damascus via Dubai. The trio is accused of running a sophisticated scam by posing as victims of the Gaza conflict and duping mosques in Gujarat and Delhi into donating lakhs of rupees.
The accused entered India on tourist visas valid from August 3 to October 2 and arrived in Ahmedabad on August 8, staying for nearly two weeks at a mosque in Shah-e-Alam. They approached local mosques claiming to be poor Gaza victims, narrating fabricated stories of ill parents and showing distressing videos of starving Gazans to solicit donations for food and relief efforts.
Later, they travelled to Delhi, where they stayed in a hotel for 13 days and continued their fundraising activities at various mosques. However, police found no evidence that the collected money was ever sent to Gaza.
During their arrest, authorities recovered approximately $2,985 (Rs 2.63 lakh) in cash. Ahmed was found carrying $1,290, Yousef $975, and Zakariya $720. Police also revealed that Ahmed had previously visited India twice and collected funds from mosques in Lucknow and Delhi.
The Ahmedabad crime branch, which formally arrested the trio after detaining them, is investigating the authenticity of their passports, their broader network, and whether local accomplices were involved. Central agencies are also being coordinated with to understand the full extent of their operations.
Authorities confirmed that the accused will be blacklisted and deported for visa violations and fraudulent activities.
