New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday registered a money laundering case against Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad and eight others under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on a predicate offence registered by Delhi Police, sources said.
The sources told mediapersons that nine people including Saad are on the ED radar. “The ED will also investigate the trust of Maulana Saad, transactions of trust and people involved in transactions,” a source said.
Apart from the ED, the Income Tax is looking into possible tax evasion by trustees including Saad, channeling of funds for personal gains, repors said.
Culpable homicide against Maulana Saad
On March 31, Delhi Police registered a case against Saad and other members of Tablighi Jamaat under Section 3 of Epidemic Disease Act 1897 read with sections 269, 270, 271 and 120-B of Indian Penal Code (IPC) for violation of government directions given to the management of Markaz of Basti Nizamuddin regarding restriction of “social/political/religious” gatherings and for taking safety measures, including social distancing, for prevention of COVID-19 viral infection.
Later, Delhi police added Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC after several attendees of the Tablighi Jamaat event succumbed to coronavirus.
Saad has been on the run ever since police booked him for violating the coronavirus guidelines by organising a religious congregation as coronavirus wreaked havoc across the world. It was found that nearly 2,300 people were staying at the Markaz Nizamuddin on March 23 despite restrictions on all religious gatherings. Many of them tested positive for the virus later.
The congregation at Markaz in the Nizamuddin area of Delhi of Tablighi Jamaat has become an epicentre of coronavirus spread, with several who attended the event testing positive and infecting hundreds of others across the country.
