ED raids several locations in Delhi in probe against AAP councillor Tahir Hussain in Delhi riots case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted raids at multiple locations including at the premises of suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain in connection with its money laundering probe in the Delhi riots case, officials said.

They said at least six premises in Delhi, Noida and few other locations in the national capital region are being searched.

The raids are aimed at collecting additional evidence in the case, they said.

The ED, in March, had booked suspended Aam Aadmi Party councillor Hussain, Islamist group PFI and some others on charges of money laundering and alleged funding of the riots in Delhi in February.

The criminal case was filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the raids are being carried out under these provisions, officials said.

Offices of Hussain located in north east Delhi are also being searched by the central investigative agency as it is 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 anti-CAA protests and the riots.

The Delhi Police last week had filed two charge sheets against Hussain in a case related to communal violence during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in north east Delhi in February and another in the murder case of Intelligence Bureau (IB) official Ankit Sharma.

The family of Sharma (26), who was found dead in a drain near his home in riot-hit Chand Bagh area, has accused Hussain of being behind the killing.

The corporator had said he was falsely implicated in the case and had denied wrongdoing.

The ED is understood to have gone through these police charge sheets before launching the raids.

Hussain has also been booked under the stringent anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, in a case related to alleged conspiracy in the riots.

Communal clashes broke out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.

Hussain, an AAP corporator for ward number 59, under the Mustafabad assembly seat in Delhi, is in judicial custody at present.

Similar charges to probe the money laundering angle in the riots were pressed by the ED in March against the Popular Front of India (PFI) which is already facing a separate PMLA probe.

The earlier money laundering case against the PFI was 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 in the past.

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.