Overview

• The Ahmedabad Crime Branch detained Ali Meghat Al-Azhar, 23, a Syrian from Damascus, at a hotel in the Ellis Bridge area after a tip-off.
• Officers said they recovered $3,600 and Rs 25,000 in cash and have found no evidence that any donations were sent to Gaza.
• Police allege the group posed as Gaza victims at mosques across Gujarat to solicit money, and the arrested man admitted the funds financed a lavish lifestyle.
• Three associates — Zakaria Haitham Alzar, Ahmed Alhabash and Yousef Al-Zahar — remain at large, with lookout notices issued to prevent their exit from India.
• The suspects entered on tourist visas via Kolkata on July 22 and reached Ahmedabad on August 2, triggering blacklisting and deportation steps as ATS, NIA and intelligence units review CCTV, phones and digital transactions.