ED had summoned former Kalighat Officer-in-Charge Shantanu Sinha Biswas several times for questioning in the Sona Pappu case.
| Photo Credit: X/@ANI

A file image of Punjab’s Industries Minister Sanjeev Arora
| Photo Credit: ANI

Anil Ambani, chairman of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Hyderabad:

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday raided multiple premises linked to Telangana revenue minister P Srinivasa Reddy and some others as part of a money laundering case linked to an alleged smuggling racket of more than Rs 100 crore, official sources said.

About five premises in the state, including Hyderabad, are being searched, they said.

The money laundering case stems from a Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) complaint against Reddy’s son, Harsha Reddy of the Raghav Group, who is alleged to have purchased seven watches worth Rs 7 crore.

The payments for these are linked to an alleged hawala and crypto currency racket worth Rs 100 crore and a man named A Naveen Kumar is under the scanner of the ED.

Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, a Congress leader, is the minister for Revenue, Housing, Information and Public Relations in the Telangana government. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Senior AAP leader and MLA Amanatullah Khan on Monday claimed that a team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has reached his house here to arrest him. Sources said the ED team reached his house in Okhla as part of a money laundering investigation.

Delhi Police and Central Reserve Police Force teams have been deployed at Mr Khan’s residence

In a post on X, Amanatullah Khan said, “An ED team has reached my house to arrest me.”

“Early this morning, the ED reached my house,” said Mr Khan, who represents Okhla in the Delhi Assembly.

अभी सुबह-सुबह तानाशाह के इशारे पर उनकी कटपुतली ED मेरे घर पर पहुँच चुकी है, मुझे और AAP नेताओं को परेशान करने में तानाशाह कोई कसर नहीं छोड़ रहा।

ईमानदारी से अवाम की ख़िदमत करना गुनाह है?

आख़िर ये तानाशाही कब तक?#EDRaid#Okhlapic.twitter.com/iR2YN7Z9NL

— Amanatullah Khan AAP (@KhanAmanatullah) September 2, 2024

Several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, hit out at the BJP government at the Centre, saying agencies are targeting those who raised their voices against the ruling party.

In a video on X, Mr Khan also said he has been replying to all the notices being sent by the agency. But a team is here to arrest him on a search warrant, he said.

On X, Sisodia said the only work left for the ED is to “suppress every voice raised against the BJP and break it”. Those who do not break, are arrested and put in jail, he alleged.

Mr Singh claimed that the ED has no evidence against Mr Khan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “dictatorship” and the ED’s “hooliganism” continue, he alleged. 

New Delhi:

Stressing that bail is the rule and jail exception, the Supreme Court today said any incriminating statement given by an accused to the investigating officer while in custody in a money laundering case will not be admissible as evidence.

The court made the strong observation while granting bail to Prem Prakash, allegedly an aide of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, in a money laundering case. This comes a day after the Supreme Court granted the relief to Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha, who was arrested in March in a money laundering case linked to Delhi’s now-scrapped liquor policy. Earlier this month, AAP leader Manish Sisodia was also granted bail in a money laundering case.

In today’s judgment, the bench of Justice BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan said, “Relying on the judgment in Manish Sisodia, we have said that even in PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), bail is a rule and jail the exception.”

The bench referred to Section 45 of the PMLA that mentions twin conditions for bail — there should be prima facie satisfaction that the accused has not committed the offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.

All that Section 45 specifies, the court said, is the conditions to be met for bail. “Liberty of the individual is always the rule and deprivation, by procedure established by law, the exception. Twin test does not take away this principle,” it added.

The bench clarified that any incriminating statement made by an accused in custody in a PMLA case before an investigating officer will not be admissible in court. “It will extremely unfair to make such statements admissible as it will be against all canons of justice.”

The prosecution, the court said, has to prima facie crystallise the issues and facts for consideration of bail under PMLA.

“The appellant is not prima facie guilty of the offences and unlikely to tamper with evidence, hence a fit case for bail. Observations only limited to bail and shall not influence the trial in accordance with law,” the bench said, granting the relief to Prem Prakash.

The top court’s latest order has come a day after the relief to BRS leader K Kavitha in which the court questioned central agencies if they were free to “pick and choose” an accused.

READ: ‘Just Because Woman Is Educated…’: Top Court’s Rap As K Kavitha Gets Bail

The bench of Justice BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan said it was “sorry to see this state of affairs”. “The prosecution has to be fair. You can’t pick and choose anyone. What is this fairness? A person who incriminates himself has been made a witness,” the bench said.

Earlier this month, while granting relief to Mr Sisodia, the court had cited ‘bail is the rule’ principle.

READ: “Travesty Of Justice”: Manish Sisodia Gets Bail, Supreme Court Slams Delay

“Trial court and High Court ought to have given due weightage to this. Courts have forgotten that bail ought not to be withheld as punishment,” the court had said, holding the accused’s right to liberty as “sacrosanct”.

Lucknow:

 YouTuber Elvish Yadav has been asked to appear before the Lucknow unit of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 23 for questioning in connection with the money laundering case related to the snake venom-rave party case, registered against him by Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida) police, said senior ED officials.

Earlier, the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in the snake venom incident, considering the significant amount of money involved in the racket in May this year.

M Yadav was arrested on March 17 and sent to 14-day judicial custody.

However, he was granted bail by a local court five days later.

A senior ED official confirmed that the agency’s Lucknow unit summoned Elvish Yadav on July 23 after he expressed his inability to appear before the ED on July 8, citing his foreign tour.

The official said Mr Yadav has been given relaxation and allowed to turn up later.

He added that Elvish Yadav’s close associate and Haryana singer Rahul Yadav, popularly known as Fazilpuria, was questioned for multiple hours at the ED Lucknow office on Monday.

Fazilpuria was questioned about the use of a snake in one of his popular songs.

Besides, Elvish Yadav’s other aides, Ishwar Yadav and Vinay Yadav, were questioned in the matter in the past.

On April 6, the Gautam Buddha Nagar police filed a 1,200-page chargesheet under the Wildlife Conservation Act against Mr Yadav and seven others in connection with the case, nearly six months after the FIR was registered.

The charge sheet describes how snakes were smuggled and how their venom was used at the parties.

While Mr Yadav had refuted the charges against him, calling them “baseless and fake,” police later dropped charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act against him, stating that it was a “mistake” on their side.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Lucknow:

The Lucknow unit of Enforcement Directorate (ED) grilled Haryanvi singer Rahul Yadav alias Rahul Fazilpuria at its Hazratganj office on Monday for more than 10 hours, an Enforcement Directorate official said.

Sources said Rahul Yadav, 33, is a friend of YouTuber and Bigg Boss OTT season 2 winner Elvish Yadav

The Enforcement Directorate questioned the singer regarding the alleged generation of proceeds of crime and the use of illicit funds for organising rave parties.

Sources added that he will be summoned again.

The Enforcement Directorate had registered a money laundering case against Elvish Yadav in the rave party case where snake venom was allegedly served.

The agency had filed the case after taking cognisance of an FIR lodged against him in Noida last month.

The Enforcement Directorate sources said that the bank account details of Elvish Yadav as well as properties acquired by him are under the scanner.

The Gurugram police had recently booked Rahul Yadav and Elvish Yadav for allegedly using rare species of snakes and a .32 bore pistol in a music video.

Haryana’s Jannayak Janta Party had fielded Rahul Yadav from Gurugram in the Lok Sabha election but he lost to BJP’s Rao Inderjit Singh.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Ranchi:

Ex-Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has been granted bail by the High Court. “Bail is granted. The court held, prima facie, Hemant Soren is not guilty, and there is no likelihood of the petitioner committing an offence on bail,” Mr Soren’s counsel Arunabh Chowdhury, told news agency PTI.

Given there are no other cases against him at this time, Mr Soren may be released soon.

Bail was reportedly granted on payment of two sureties of Rs 50,000 each.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31 on money laundering charges. The ED has accused him of running a scheme to manipulate records, via fictitious transactions and forged documents, and acquire 8.86 acres of land in Ranchi worth crores.

Mr Soren has repeatedly denied the charges against him, and has accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of framing his arrest – which was weeks before the Lok Sabha election – to derail the opposition.

The bail order today comes after setbacks last month.

First, the Ranchi special court had denied Mr Soren bail.

That was followed by the High Court rejecting a plea to quash his arrest. The court pointed to an “abundance of documents that lay foundation for the arrest and remand of petitioner”.

Mr Soren was also told he could not “wiggle out of the mess he created for himself’. 

Following that the Supreme Court also refused interim bail; this was sought on grounds Mr Soren needed to campaign for his party, and the Congress-led INDIA opposition bloc, in the Lok Sabha polls.

READ | No Interim Bail Yet For Hemant Soren. He Cited Kejriwal’s Example

That setback meant Hemant Soren – unlike his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, arrested by the ED in the alleged liquor policy scam but given interim bail by the top court – could not campaign.

, the Jharkhand leader was forced to withdraw an interim bail plea after tough questions over non-disclosure of facts; the focus was on Mr Soren not revealing the special court – which hears cases related to money laundering – had taken cognisance of the complaint against him.

READ | “Misused State Machinery”: ED On Soren’s Top Court Bail Plea

In that hearing the ED argued Mr Soren had tried to subvert the investigation by “misusing state machinery” and so opposed his “special prayer” for interim bail to campaign in the Lok Sabha polls.

There was also confusion over a prior bail plea – dismissed – in the High Court, which then pointed to an

NDTV Explains | Hemant Soren’s 2 Bail Pleas And A Rap By Supreme Court

This was after the Supreme Court issued a notice to the central agency and sought its response to an interim bail plea filed before it on grounds the High Court was delaying delivery of its judgement.

Mr Kejriwal had been granted bail by the top court to campaign for the AAP.

READ | 9 Acre Illegal Land, BMW Car: What Report On Soren’s Claims

Hemant Soren resigned as Chief Minister on January 31, hours after the ED began a marathon questioning session and then informed him he would be arrested.

READ | Soren Refused To Sign Arrest Memo Until He Resigned: Sources

Mr Soren, however, refused to accept the arrest memo till he had quit his post, in order to avoid being the first sitting Chief Minister to be arrested.

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Mumbai:

Luxury cars like Mercedes Benz and Lexus, and watch brands like Rolex and Hublot apart from more than 140 bank accounts and lockers were seized after the ED raided a Mumbai-based business group in an alleged Rs 975 crore bank loan fraud linked money laundering case.

The searches were undertaken against Mandhana Industries Limited (now GB Global Ltd.) and its promoters on Wednesday, the federal agency said in a statement.

The money laundering case stems from a CBI FIR filed against the company, its directors Purushottam Mandhana, Manish Mandhana, Biharilal Mandhana and others based on a complaint filed by the Bank of Baroda for allegedly defrauding a consortium of banks to the tune of Rs 975.08 crore, according to the statement issued on Thursday.

Mandhana Industries Ltd and its directors “hatched a criminal conspiracy” to cause loss to banks and corresponding wrongful gain to themselves by “diverting” loan funds through fraudulent transactions and circular trading, it said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said the searches led to the unearthing of “crucial incriminating” documents including property documents.

More than 140 bank accounts, five lockers and shares and securities worth Rs 5 crore have been frozen and three high-end cars, including a Lexus and a Mercedes Benz, along with multiple watches of brands like Rolex and Hublot were seized during the raids, the ED said.

“Various fictitious entities were incorporated by the directors of Mandhana Industries Ltd. in the name of employees of the company for layering funds through the bank accounts of such entities.

“Suspicious third-party transactions were made to divert funds to the accounts of promoter/directors and their family members and bogus purchases were booked against payments made to different entities providing accommodation (hawala) entries, it alleged.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)