ED books AAP councillor Tahir Hussain; police arrest his 3 associates

Tightening the noose around suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, the Enforcement Directorate booked him, Islamist group PFI and some others on charges of money laundering and alleged funding of the recent riots in the national capital, while the Delhi Police arrested three of his associates, officials said on Wednesday.

Hussain is facing charges of killing an Intelligence Bureau (IB) official during the riots in northeast Delhi last month.

Apart from this, a criminal case has been filed against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the Enforcement Directorate, they said.

Similar charge has also been pressed against the Popular Front of India (PFI) which is already facing a separate PMLA probe.

Hussain is in the custody of Delhi Police at present.

The officials said the federal agency has taken cognisance of a clutch of FIRs filed by Delhi Police's Crime Branch to probe the alleged money laundering and routing of illegal funds by Hussain, PFI and others to purportedly sponsor the communal riots that killed over 50 people.

In the case of PFI, the organisation was already being probed by the ED for allegedly routing about Rs 120 crore funds to fuel anti-CAA riots in the country and the agency has questioned about half-a-dozen of its office bearers over the last fortnight.

This case is being probed as part of a 2018 ECIR (enforcement case information report), equivalent of a police FIR, against the PFI and some associated organisations.

The Islamist organisation had denied any wrongdoing in this case, saying their financial transactions were transparent.

Meanwhile, the city police arrested three associates of Hussain.

Abid, a resident of Dayalpur, and Mohd Shahdab and Rashid Saifi, both from Nehru Vihar, were arrested by the Crime Branch on Tuesday.

According to the police, the trio was with Hussain on February 24 during the violence in northeast Delhi.

The Crime Branch had on Monday arrested Hussain's brother Shah Alam in connection with the riots. Three other people, who were sheltering Alam, were also arrested.

Hussain was arrested by Delhi Police last week after a court here dismissed his plea seeking to surrender before it in connection with the killing of IB official Ankit Sharma during the violence over the new citizenship law.