ED attaches Thane flat of associate of Dawood Ibrahim's brother Iqbal Kaskar

Iqbal Kaskar. File Photo

The ED on Tuesday said it has attached a flat worth Rs 55 lakh, held in the name of an associate of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim's brother Iqbal Kaskar, in Maharashtra's Thane in connection with a money-laundering probe.

A provisional order for attaching the immovable asset has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Mumtaz Ezaz Shaikh, the Enforcement Directorate said in a statement.

The ED alleged this flat was "extorted" by Iqbal Kaskar and others from a Thane-based real estate developer Suresh Devichand Mehta.

"Mehta was running a business of construction with his partner through his firm Darshan enterprises. The accused Iqbal Kaskar, Mumtaz Shaikh and Israr Ali Jamil Saiyad due to close proximity with underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar managed to extort one flat in Thane in the name of Mumtaz Ezaz Shaikh," the agency said.

Besides the flat, it said, four cheques totalling Rs 10 lakhs "as demanded by them" were issued by the builder and "encashed" by the accused.

"These accounts were operated only for withdrawing the cash amount of Rs 10 lakh and no other transactions were carried out in them. These accounts were operated to hide end-user/real user of the extorted amounts," the ED alleged.

The accused also "extorted" cash from Mehta during that period, it said.

The criminal case of money laundering was slapped against the accused after the ED took cognisance of a Thane Police FIR of September 2017.

The police also pressed charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused, it said.

Iqbal Kaskar, who was already in jail, was placed under fresh arrest by the ED on February 18 on money laundering charges. He is in judicial custody at present.

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