ED Probe For Income Source Of Jahangirpuri Riot Accused: What Delhi Police Is Planning To Do
The Delhi Police Crime Branch which is investigating the recent communal riots in Jahangirpuri has reportedly requested the Enforcement Directorate to look into the financial dealings of the prime accused.
The Delhi Police Crime Branch which is investigating the recent communal riots in Jahangirpuri has reportedly requested the Enforcement Directorate to look into the financial dealings of the prime accused.
Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana has written to ED seeking a probe into the possibly illegal money being used for rioting on April 16, PTI has reported.
The letter specifically mentions the name of the arrested accused and alleged mastermind of the violence, Ansar Sheikh, requesting the ED to initiate a financial probe into the accused's illegal assets.
Who is Ansar Sheikh?
Accused Ansar is suspected to have acquired huge properties at various places in the country through ill-gotten money.
"If they lodge a PMLA case, a nationwide probe could be started against Ansar. All the properties bought by him and his family members will be examined. If these were bought with the help of proceeds of crime, the assets will be seized," official sources told PTI.
The source had earlier claimed that during interrogation, Ansar confessed to his involvement in the drug trade.
They claimed that with his illegal trade, the accused minted money and used it to create a gangster-type image in Jahangirpuri. Ansar initially started dealing in scrap business and later on started supplying heroin and smack in the area.
It is very likely that a case could be registered against Ansar under the Preventive of Money Laundering Act. The financial probe agency also has the right to confiscate his assets that were possibly acquired through criminal activities.
Ansar who is originally from Assam is married to a girl from Haldia, a prime industrial township in West Bengal¡¯s East Midnapore district.
He reportedly owns a luxurious mansion there and has developed the image of a philanthropist in Haldia by donating huge amounts to various socio-religious activities.
Ansar Sheikh planned to stop the procession
IANS, quoting sources in the Delhi Police reported that seven days before the April 16 Hanuman Jayanti procession, a meeting was organised by Ansar to carry out the attack.
Ansar reportedly held the meeting at Kushal Chowk in Jahangirpuri with 30 people in which it was planned as to how they would stop the procession.
"Red colour stones were assembled by the accused at the roof top of several houses. It was all pre-planned. The accused later washed the whole roof. It was done in a bid to destroy the evidence," said the source.
Around 25 people have been arrested so far in connection with the violence that broke out in Jahagirpuri during a Hanuman Jayanti procession.
The Delhi Police has imposed National Security Act (NSA) on the five accused arrested in connection to the violence.
Bulldozers on hold
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) had on Wednesday tried to launch an anti-encroachment drive in Jahangirpuri, to raze down alleged illegal structures owned by the riot accused.
This was, however, stopped by the Supreme Court which ordered the NDMC to maintain the status quo.
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