Delhi police commissioner Rakesh Asthana has written to the Enforcement Directorate to investigate money-laundering charges against the prime accused in the Jahangirpuri violence, a senior officer said on Friday.
Ansar, 35, a resident of B-Block of Jahangirpuri, is alleged to be the “main conspirator” behind the communal flare-up that took place on April 16 during a procession on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti, the police said.
“A letter has been written to the director of the Enforcement Directorate to probe Ansar under the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) charges,” the senior police officer said.
The letter is said to be addressed to ED director Sanjay Kumar Mishra.
During preliminary investigation, it has emerged that Ansar has money in many bank accounts and is also in possession of several properties, which allegedly were purchased through gambling money, the police said.
“We have requested the agency concerned (ED) to probe the money-laundering angle in the case of Ansar and analyse his bank account details and all the properties in his possession to ascertain if this money was being funded by someone for a purpose, or if he earned this money through illegal means such as gambling so that we can establish links,” the officer said.
The ED is empowered to arrest a person and attach his or her assets during the course of a money laundering investigation.
According to the police, Ansar was involved in two cases of assault and was also arrested repeatedly under preventive sections and booked five times under the Gambling Act and the Arms Act.
In the Jahangirpuri violence, 25 people have been arrested while two juveniles have been apprehended so far, the police said.
According to Delhi police, it has slapped the stringent National Security Act on five persons arrested in connection with the April 16 Jahangirpuri violence, even as the BJP and the AAP accused each other of links with the “main conspirator”.
Among those booked under the NSA are Ansar, the police said, adding further investigation is in progress.
Ansar allegedly had an argument with participants of the Hanuman Jayanti procession that escalated and led to stone pelting, according to the FIR.
The Delhi police's crime branch is probing the case with assistance from the northwest district police and the special cell’s IFSO (Intelligence Fusion Strategic Operation) unit.
According to the police, a crime branch team has been sent to Bengal where they are questioning the relatives of those who belong to the state and have been arrested. The team has already questioned family members of one of the arrested accused, Md. Aslam, who had opened fire. A bullet hit sub inspector Meda Lal, who is recovering from the injury.
