ED files money laundering case against jailed don Atiq

Lucknow: Enforcement Directorate has registered a case of money laundering against jailed gangster Atiq Ahmad. The case was lodged on the basis of 195 criminal cases lodged against Atiq, his son Umar Ahmad and their associates. The case was lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
ED officials said all benami (anonymous) properties acquired by Atiq, his aides and family members would be attached.Atiq, a former MP and MLA is lodged in Sabarmati jail since June 2019.
An ED official said so far Atiq’s properties worth Rs 245 crore have been confiscated by district administration and UP Police. “We will be probing the properties acquired forcefully by the don and also the money he got through illegal means,” the official added.
Sources in the ED said they have traced 16 real estate companies which are directly or indirectly related to Atiq and his son.
“We have taken complete dossier of cases of Atiq Ahmad from the UP Police and will conduct a threadbare probe,” said a senior ED official.
ED will also probe the money trail in the FIR registered by CBI against Atiq and his son on the charges of extortion, assault, kidnapping of businessman Mohit Jaiswal in June 2019.
Mohit Jaiswal, a property dealer in Lucknow, was kidnapped by Atiq’s aides and taken to Deoria jail where the don was then lodged. Jaiswal was allegedly assaulted in jail by Atiq and later dumped him near his house in Lucknow. Later Jaiswal moved the Supreme Court which ordered a CBI probe in the case.