The Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a money laundering case on Wednesday, 10 August, in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence investigation.
The probe agency’s move comes after a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Wednesday allowed the ED to question accused lawyer Surendra Gadling at Navi Mumbai’s Taloja Jail from 17 to 19 August.
In a plea filed before the court last week, the ED said that the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence case accused were members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). The probe agency alleged that Gadling, in collusion with terrorist organisations, was involved in fundraising to create disaffection towards India.
Gadling and the Arguments in Court
Calling Gadling the “prime suspect,” the probe agency claimed that he received funds in several bank accounts opened under the names of family members.
While opposing the plea, Gadling claimed that the agency had “mala fide and hidden agenda” to implicate him in yet another case. Its allegations were “absolutely baseless,” he added.
“Mere invocation of certain sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act does not by itself attract the provisions of the PMLA. Nor does it give power to the directorate of enforcement to invoke its power,” he said, according to Hindustan Times.
Gadling further argued that the NIA, which investigated the case for close to four years, did not make any mention of funds being seized from him.
Hindustan Times quoted Gadling as saying, “In the entire charge sheet, the NIA has not mentioned about any unaccounted money found from Gadling or any links thereof. If the predicate offence has no mention of funding allegations, how the ED is probing the money-laundering allegations.”
Arguing the case for the ED, special prosecutor Sunil Gonsalves said that the NIA’s investigation was limited to the offence, and that it was the ED’s job to look beyond and track down the money trail. “We are not asking for his custody. We just want to record his statement as we want to unearth the entire proceeds of crime,” Gonsalves said.
Gadling was arrested in 2018 and has been in prison since then. He was first arrested by the Pune police before the case was handed over to the NIA. The agency has arrested 16 activists for allegedly furthering the agenda of the CPI (Maoist) to overthrow the Indian government.
What Is the Bhima Koregaon Case?
The Bhima-Koregaon case pertains to the alleged inflammatory speeches made at the 'Elgar Parishad' conclave, which was held at Shaniwarwada in Pune, on 31 December 2017.
According to the Pune Police, the speeches delivered at the conclave had triggered violence near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the city's outskirts, on the day after the conclave, that is, 1 January 2018. The police also claimed that the conclave had been backed by Maoists.
Till now, a total of 16 accused have been arrested in the case. One of the accused – Father Stan Swamy – died of cardiac arrest last year, a day before his bail hearing.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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