ED attaches Rs 5-cr assets of former UP minister in money laundering case

Lucknow: The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth Rs 5 crore of former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Rangnath Mishra in connection with a money laundering case, the agency said on Saturday. Mishra was the minister for secondary education and home in the 2007-11 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government headed by the then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said it has issued an order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to provisionally attach a residential plot at George Town Extension, Tagore Town in Allahabad. The market value of the asset is Rs 5 crore. The agency's probe is related to an alleged disproportionate assets case against the former minister, it said.

"These properties were acquired by Rangnath Mishra in his name and in the name of his family during the year 2010," the ED said in a statement.

It added that the probe against Mishra was initiated after studying an FIR filed against him by the Uttar Pradesh vigilance department. "Probe revealed acquisition of disproportionate assets by the ex-minister during his tenure as secondary education and home (minister) during 2007-2011," the statement said.

"Further investigation in respect of sources of the properties acquired and purchased by Mishra and his family members in the name of trust, 'samiti', and institutes is under progress," it said.

(PTI)