LUCKNOW: Mau MLA Abbas Ansari, son of former MLA and mafia Mukhtar Ansari, was "arrested" by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Prayagraj late on Friday night, said police sources on Saturday. Abbas is an MLA from Mau (Sadar) assembly segment from Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) of OP Rajbhar.
On Saturday afternoon, the ED officials produced the SBSP MLA in Prayagraj MP/MLA court amid tight security.
Abbas Ansari has been on the ED scanner over money laundering allegations. He was summoned by the agency for questioning on Friday afternoon related to a case of money laundering registered against his father in July 2021.
Abbas appeared in ED’s Prayagraj office on Friday and after a day-long grilling, he was "arrested" and taken to Moti Lal Nehru Divisional (Colvin) Hospital for a medical examination around midnight, said the sources.
Abbas’s driver Ravi Kumar Sharma of Ghazipur was also detained along with Abbas. However, ED did not confirm Abbas Ansari’s detention or "arrest" till now officially.
Significantly, ED had issued summons to over half a dozen relatives and associates of Mukhtar Ansari, lodged in Banda jail, in the money laundering case registered against him in March 2021.
ED had issued a lookout notice on October 11 against Abbas Ansari and his mother, Mukhtar’s wife, Afshan Ansari. Following this, ED summoned Abbas and his younger brother Umar on May 20 for questioning.
In response to the summons, Abbas along with his lawyer arrived at the ED office on Friday afternoon. After almost nine-hour of questioning, he was ‘arrested’.
ED is currently investigating the movable and immovable assets of Mukhtar, his kin and associates, which they allegedly earned through illegal means. Around a dozen places associated with Mukhtar and his relatives have so far been raided by ED in Ghazipur, Lucknow and Delhi.
ED officials had then also issued notices to Mukhtar’s brother MP Afzal Ansari, brother-in-law Atif Raza, son Abbas Ansari and some other persons including close relatives and associates, and called them for recording their statements. However, Mukhtar’s wife Afshan has been elusive and has failed to respond to ED summons so far.
Enforcement Directorate teams raided five spots in Ghazipur, four in Lucknow and three in Delhi and seized files related to properties, and transactions along with laptops and several mobile phones recently.
Abbas Ansari has been absconding in a case lodged against him under Arms Act in the state. While the UP police failed to track him, the Mau MLA moved to Supreme Court to stay on arrest and was given relief by the apex court following which he surfaced in Saifai in mid-October to pay his tributes to SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav who passed away on October 10.