LUCKNOW: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached undervalued properties worth Rs 73.43 lakh acquired by mafia turned politician Mukhtar Ansari’s son Abbas Ansari. The land and commercial buildings were situated in Mau and Ghazipur.
These properties were allegedly acquired by Abbas Ansari at a considerably undervalued price of Rs 71.94 lakh, as opposed to the government rate of Rs 6.23 crore. Additionally, Rs 1.5 lakh was found in the bank account of Mukhtar Ansari.
These actions were taken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The case under the PMLA Act was originally registered against Mukhtar Ansari in June 2021, based on an FIR filed in Mau which included sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Damage to Public Properties Act. During the course of the investigation, the names of Abbas and Atif emerged.
ED sources also revealed the involvement of an individual named Sapra, who was a partner in M/s Vikas Constructions, a company in which Mukhtar Ansari, his father-in-law Jamshed Raza, and Abbas Ansari were partners. Funds diverted from this firm were allegedly used for personal purposes, including foreign trips and the purchase of firearms by Abbas.
Further investigations into the financial transactions of Aaghaaz Constructions, in which Mukhtar's wife Afshan Ansari, father-in-law Jamshed Raza, and son Abbas Ansari held shares, revealed that Sapra had invested money in the company and conducted transactions through various shell companies. The company had obtained a loan of Rs 1.06 crore in the name of Mishra from the Union Bank of India, with a property valued at Rs 90 lakh belonging to another associate of Mukhtar, Ganesh Dutt Mishra, being mortgaged.
