The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday raided premises associated with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Afzal Ansari in connection with a money laundering case against his brother, gangster-turned politician Mukhtar Ansari. The raids were spread across Delhi, Lucknow, Ghazipur, Ansari’s constituency, and Mau, Ansari’s hometown, sources said.
In Delhi, the agency carried out searches at his official residence on Janpath along with CRPF security, sources added. The agency had questioned Afzal in the case in May.
Mukhtar, who is also a former BSP leader, was booked by ED last year for alleged money laundering on the basis of multiple cases registered by UP police related to land-grabbing and illegal businesses operated by him and his gang members.
The agency has questioned Mukhtar, who is in judicial custody in a Banda jail, his son, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party MLA Abbas Ansari, his brother Afzal, and nephew, SP MLA Shoaib Ansari, in the case.
The Ghazipur district administration last week had seized two plots of land, measuring 1.901 hectares and valued at over Rs 6 crore, that were purchased using alleged illegal earnings of Mukhtar, according to police.
In July, the Uttar Pradesh police attached Afzal’s assets worth Rs 14.90 crore under the Gangster Act.
