Enforcement Directorate attaches properties of gangster Mukhtar Ansari
New Delhi, October 21
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today said it had attached seven immovable properties of arrested Uttar Pradesh gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari as part of a probe against him and his family under the provisions of the PMLA.
The ED, in a statement, said the attached properties were worth Rs 1.48 crore (registry value) while their circle rate at the time of registration was Rs 3.42 crore. Ansari is currently lodged in a prison in Banda, Uttar Pradesh. The 59-year-old was questioned by the ED in the case last year.
The agency had in August also raided the official residence of his elder brother and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Afzal Ansari in Delhi and some locations in Ghazipur, Mohammadabad (Ghazipur district), Mau and state capital Lucknow.
The ED’s case under provisions of the PMLA against Mukhtar Ansari is based on multiple FIRs lodged by the Uttar Pradesh Police apart from two more FIRs lodged against a company called Vikas Constructions (a partnership firm) that was run by his wife, two brothers-in-law and other persons. The central agency alleged that the company was used for constructing godowns on public and government land after “encroaching” upon them.
“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 brothers Atif Raza and Anwar Shahzad, persons identified as Ravindra Narayan Singh and Zakir Hussain,” the ED said.
