'Illegal' property worth Rs 21 cr belonging to UP ex-MLC's aide attached

A joint team of police and revenue department on Sunday attached alleged illegal property worth Rs 21 crore registered in the name of former MLC Haji Iqbal's aide.

The property was registered in the name of Naseem and it was attached under the provisions of the Gangster Act, police said.

Iqbal was a Bahujan Samaj Party MLC from 2010 to 2016.

Iqbal, who headed the gang, was indulged in smuggling wood, illegal mining, threatening people and using fraudulent means to purchase government and non-government land, and registering them in the names of his aides, family members, relatives and even servants, Senior Superintendent of Police Akash Tomar told PTI.

He had amassed money from criminal activities and purchased a number of properties in Behat area of Saharanpur, the SSP said.

In another case, property worth Rs 4 crore in Barabanki district, belonging to drug smuggler Mohammad Saheem alias Kasim, too, was attached on Sunday, Additional Superintendent of Police, Barabanki, Manoj Kumar Pandey said.

Saheem used to supply smack, also called black tar heroin, to some states, the officer said.