Asif Merchant Paid Dollars to the American Hitman through Referral Handi: Investigation

KARACHI (Azzaz Syed) Asif Merchant paid dollars to US 'Hitman' through referral Handi, visited Iran, Yemen, Iraq at least 15 times since 2015; It was not the first visit to America. According to the details, The News has learned that Pakistani Asif Merchant, who was arrested by the American authorities for allegedly planning to kill a political figure, holding rallies and stealing official documents, was transferred to Karachi through non-banking hawala handi channels. Asked and received $5,000 from his uncle to hire assassins. An official directly involved in the investigation told The News/Geo that we received a formal intelligence request from the US authorities, after which we learned that the money was sent to the merchant by his maternal uncle Kukab. His uncle said he received a request for money from a merchant who said he needed it for business. Kokb Mehdi belongs to a company called K-TEX Apparel which at one point exported $2 million worth of clothes. The merchant had been working in his maternal uncle's company since resigning from a bank in Punjab in 2019. He apparently visited America to explore business opportunities there. The company's telephone numbers are now either closed or staff answer that it is not a valid office number.

This was not his first visit to the US, he visited at least three times in 2013, 2017 and most recently in 2024. According to Pakistani authorities, he apparently traveled on a B1-B2 visa. Merchant has a sister who lives in the US. He was arrested at the airport when he was trying to return to Pakistan. His family in Karachi learned of his arrest on 14 July when he failed to reach Karachi. It is learned that Merchant has made at least 15 trips to Iran, Iraq and Yemen since 2015. He started radicalizing after 2013 but it is still unclear what made this young businessman a suspected terrorist. Kokab Mahdi was apparently unaware of his nephew's plans. However, till the filing of this report, he was being interrogated. Intelligence officials claimed that US law enforcement agencies did not share information about Merchant's arrest.