The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday filed a chargesheet in a Delhi court against suspended Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain in a money laundering case related to the communal violence that erupted in the city in February, PTI reported.

The court has summoned Hussain and co-accused Amit Gupta on October 19.

The financial investigation agency was looking into the allegation that Hussain and those linked to him laundered about Rs 1.10 crore funds by using purported shell or dummy companies to fuel the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the subsequent violence.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat took cognisance of the offences under Sections 3 (money laundering), 70 (offences by companies) punishable under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, against Hussain and Gupta.

“There is prima facie sufficient incriminating material about the involvement of the accused persons,” the court said. “The Enforcement Directorate may proceed with further investigation, as per law.”

Hussain, who has been in judicial custody since March, has been charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. He is also an accused in the alleged murder of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma, whose body was found in a drain in Chand Bagh locality.

The police had said Sharma was stabbed 51 times and was “specifically targeted” by the mob that Hussain had allegedly provoked. They alleged that there was “deep-rooted conspiracy” behind the violence and Sharma’s murder.

February violence and its aftermath

The violence in North East Delhi in February left over 50 people dead, hundreds injured and thousands displaced.

The police claim that the violence was part of a larger conspiracy to defame Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and was hatched by those who organised the protests against the amended Citizenship Act. They further claimed the protestors had secessionist motives and were using “the facade of civil disobedience” to destabilise the government. The police have arrested several activists and students based on these “conspiracy” charges. But the police have been accused of either inaction or complicity in some instances of violence.

The police have named 15 people as accused in a 17,000-page-long chargesheet. All accused have been charged under sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act.

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