Delhi Police wants ED to probe Jahangirpuri riots mastermind Ansar

New Delhi, April 22

Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana has written to Directorate of Enforcement(ED) seeking its intervention to probe the communal violence that erupted at Jahangirpuri in the national capital as possibly illegal money was used for rioting on April 16.

According to sources, the letter specifically mentions the name of the arrested accused and alleged mastermind of the violence, Ansar, requesting the ED to initiate a financial probe into the accused's illegal assets.

Accused Ansar is suspected to have acquired huge properties at various places in the country through ill-gotten money. "If they lodge a PMLA case, a nationwide probe could be started against Ansar. All the properties bought by him and his family members will be examined. If these were bought with the help of proceeds of crime, the assets will be seized," official sources said.

The sources close to the development have earlier claimed that during the course of interrogation, Ansar confessed to his involvement in drug trade.

They claimed that with his illegal trade, the accused minted money and used it to create a gangster-type image in Jahangirpuri. Ansar initially started dealing with scrap business and later on started supplying heroin and smack in the area.

It is very likely that a case could be registered against Ansar under the Preventive of Money Laundering Act. The financial probe agency also has the right to confiscate his assets that were possibly acquired through criminal activities.

Meanwhile, Ansar's West Bengal connection has also come to the fore.

Reportedly, Ansar owns a luxurious mansion in Haldia, a prime industrial township in West Bengal's East Midnapore district and has an image of a philanthropist there.

Several people at his wife's village near Haldia remember him as a social activist who devoted his life for the welfare of others. Ansar too made sure that his image remained intact by doing charity works.

As per sources, Ansar, originally a resident of Assam, married a girl whose family has been living in the village for a long time now.

Soon after his marriage, Ansar built a mansion there. A few villagers said that Ansar last visited the village in March. Every time he visited the village, he used to meet the deputy village head before leaving for Delhi.

Rafiq-ul-Islam, the deputy village head, said that Ansar used to make monetary donations to the poor during his visits, creating an image of a philanthropist for himself.