A Delhi court Thursday sent suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain to judicial custody for 14 days in a money laundering case related to the communal violence in northeast Delhi in February. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) was probing the allegation that Hussain and his linked persons laundered about Rs 1.10 crore funds, by using purported shell or dummy companies, to fuel the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the riots.
Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat sent Hussain to judicial custody after the probe agency did not seek his further custodial interrogation. The court had earlier sent him to ED custody for three days in the case.
ED's Special Public Prosecutor N K Matta had earlier told the court that Hussain was allegedly involved in money laundering and various other fraudulent acts of cheating, falsification and forgery of documents, and criminal conspiracy. Matta had said the ED has seized several incriminating documents and digital devices after conducting searches at various premises.
"Statements of several persons have been recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and WhatsApp chats, bogus invoices and other incriminating documents have been recovered," the public prosecutor had said. ED further alleged that Hussain had entered into a criminal conspiracy by fraudulently transferring money from the accounts of many companies.
The money so obtained are allegedly proceeds of crime which were then used for committing various other scheduled offences, the agency had claimed. Senior advocate K K Manan, appearing for Hussain, had claimed that the accused was a victim of circumstances and was not required for custodial interrogation as he faced the threat of torture.
Hussain was arrested in connection with the riots in northeast Delhi in February. He has also been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a conspiracy case related to the riots. He was also arrested in connection with the alleged murder of IB official Ankit Sharma during the riots.
Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.
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