Lucknow: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has put the properties of SP leader Azam Khan, mafia don Mukhtar Ansari, and strongman Atiq Ahmad on their radar. Following the UP Police, ED has intensified its actions over Mukhtar Ansari and Atiq Ahmad. The ED had earlier registered a case against the three leaders in a money laundering case. The agency has got permission from the court to interrogate these three leaders by taking them into custody. ED is going to interrogate all three leaders to find out their sources of income and assets, and how they managed to create a black market economic empire.
The ED had registered a case against the three based on the recommendation made by the UP Police. Meanwhile, the UP Police and the local administration of Prayagraj and Mau confiscated properties worth billions of rupees of Mukhtar Ansari and Atiq Ahmad. During three decades, Mukhtar and Atiq had bought and sold land, including government land, worth crores of rupees in more than half a dozen cities of the state.
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Azam accused of land grabbing
SP leader Azam Khan is accused of grabbing acres of land for establishing the Jauhar University. Many of those lands are government property and the state government's finances were used to construct his dream project. The construction was demolished by the Yogi government.
Case registered against Mukhtar on 1st July
On July 1, a case of money laundering was registered by the ED against mafia don Mukhtar Ansari, who is lodged in UP's Banda Jail. It is alleged that Mukhtar Ansari illegally occupied government land and rented it out to a private company for seven years at the rate of Rs 1.7 crore per annum.
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Information received on 16 companies of Ateeq Ahmad
Last year, the UP Police had identified 16 companies of strongman politician Ateeq Ahmad, many of which were 'Benami'. These 16 companies were registered under false names but the investments came from Ateeq Ahmad. Most of the companies are directly involved in the real estate sector. The transactions of these companies are in crores. According to the UP Police, information has been received about these 16 illegal companies. Three of them are in the name of Atiq's wife, Saista Parveen, while five are in the name of Ateeq Ahmad's relatives.
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