ED attaches properties of BSP MP worth Rs 1.48 cr in PMLA case

As per the ED, Vikas Construction collected Rs 15 crore in rent from the Food Corporation of India by renting out godowns "illegally" built on public/government land in the Mau and Ghazipur districts.

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New Delhi, Oct 21 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) announced on Friday that it had attached seven immovable assets belonging to Uttar Pradesh gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari as part of a money laundering investigation against him and his family. The properties, which have been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), are worth Rs 1.48 crore (registry value), while their circle rate at the time of registration was Rs 3.42 crore, according to a statement from the federal agency. Ansari, a five-time MLA, is currently imprisoned in Banda, Uttar Pradesh. In this case, the 59-year-old was questioned by the ED last year.

In August, the agency raided his elder brother, BSP MP Afzal Ansari's official residence in Delhi, as well as some locations in Ghazipur, Mohammadabad (in Ghazipur district), Mau, and the state capital Lucknow. The money laundering case against Mukhtar Ansari stems from multiple FIRs filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police, as well as two additional FIRs filed against Vikas Constructions (a partnership firm) run by his wife, two brothers-in-law, and others. The ED claims that the company was used to build godowns on public and government land after "encroaching" on it.

"The godowns were constructed in Mau and Ghazipur districts of Uttar Pradesh. Vikas Construction was being run by Afshan Ansari (wife of Mukhtar Ansari) and her two brothers Atif Raza and Anwar Shahzad, a person identified as Ravindra Narayan Singh, and Zakir Hussain," the ED said. "Uttar Pradesh Police has filed a charge sheet in one of the FIRs registered at Mau in which all the partners of the firm (Vikas Construction) have been named as accused," it said.

The probe found, as per the agency, that rent of Rs 15 crore was collected by Vikas Construction from the Food Corporation of India by renting out godowns "illegally" constructed by encroaching public/government land at Mau and Ghazipur districts. "This rent was further used to purchase immovable properties in the name of Vikas Construction and Afshan Ansari. Further investigation to trace out the remaining process of crime is under progress," the ED said.

(With agencies' inputs)