A total of ₹17.80 lakh of cash was seized by the Enforcement Directorate after the agency conducted searches at renowned builders, CAs, and others linked to slain gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed on Saturday.
ED conducted searches at ten premises located in Prayagraj, Lucknow, and Delhi between June 14-15, the agency said in a statement. The search at these places also led to the recovery of papers related to the sale/purchase of properties, financial documents of firms, bank statements, mobile phones, laptops, etc to prove the offence of Money Laundering under section 3 of PMLA.
"The said search action resulted in recovery and seizure of cash amounting to ₹17.80 lakh, papers related to sale/purchase of properties, financial documents of company/firms, bank statements, mobile phones, laptops, and other physical and electronic evidence to prove the offence of Money Laundering under sections 3 of PMLA, 2002. Physical and forensic analyses of seized evidence are ongoing," the release of ED stated.
The investigation was initiated against Atiq Ahmed and his aides under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 based on crime RC lodged by CBI on the direction of the Supreme Court. The investigation began after the allegation of kidnapping, extortion, and assault against Atiq Ahmed and his men.
Atiq Ahmed who was arrested for his involvement in politician-Umesh Pal murder case. He was murdered by masked men in front of the media, while he was being taken to a medical check-up in on 15 April 2023. He was a history-sheeter and also used to run a mafia gang which is involved in a range of crimes of serious nature.
Till now, the investigating agency found around 100 FIRs of crimes related to murder, extortion, land grabbing, etc lodged in different police stations.
The investigation found that the MLA-turned-gangster used his political clout and power to usurp the government and other people's land properties to increase his wealth. He was indulged in criminal activities since 1989 and had amassed huge properties in his name, his family member's name, and in the name of his associates and other benzamides.
A similar search was conducted in April at the premises of various close associates of Atiq Ahmed. The agency recovered a total of ₹84.68 lakh of cash, a gold bar of ₹60 lakh, gold and diamond jewellery worth ₹2.85 crore, digital devices, and various physical documents/records at that time.
