NEW DELHI: Alleged hawala dealer Mohammad Aslam Wani, arrested along with Kashmiri separatist Shabir Shah in connection with a decade-old money laundering case for alleged terror funding, today withdrew his bail plea from a Delhi court.
36-year old Wani told Additional Sessions, Judge Sidharth Sharma, that since the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has recently filed a charge sheet against him, he may move a fresh plea after going through the contents in the probe report.
The ED had on Saturday filed its charge sheet against Wani and Shah, whose bail application was dismissed on August 22 in the 2005 case.
Wani was arrested by the ED from Srinagar on August 6 with the help of the state police and is currently in judicial custody. Shabir Shah was arrested by the agency from Srinagar on July 26.
The ED action against the two was in pursuance of an August 2005 case in which the Delhi Police's Special Cell had arrested Wani, who had claimed he had passed on Rs 2.25 crore to Shah.
In 2010, a Delhi court had cleared Wani of terror funding charges but convicted him under the Arms Act. The ED had registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Shah and Wani.
On August 26, 2005, Wani was arrested allegedly with Rs 63 lakh, which was allegedly received through hawala channels from the Middle East, besides a large cache of ammunition.