New Delhi, Feb 20 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday claimed to have attached Rs 26.06 lakh assets of two Maoist leaders in Bihar and Jharkhand under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).
The two Maoist leaders have been identified as Abhijeet Yadav aka Mahavir Yadav and Pintu Rana aka Rajesh Rana.
The ED attached Rs 16.49 lakh worth of six land plots in Palamu district of Jharkhand and a bank account of Yadav.
In case of Rana, the ED has attached one Kisan tractor with trailer, motorcycle, scooty and bank balances totalling Rs 9.57 lakh.
The ED has registered a case of money laundering against Yadav on the basis of 55 FIRs and charge-sheets filed by the Jharkhand and Bihar police.
Yadav was charged under various sections of the Arms Act, the Explosive Substances Act and the Criminal Law Amendment in various police stations of Bihar's Gaya and Aurangabad districts and Jharkhand's Palamu district for collection of levy, criminal conspiracy, attempt to murder, extortion, etc.
Yadav was involved in levy/extortion from various development works in Gaya, Aurangabad and Palamu districts of the two states, the ED said.
It booked Rana on the basis of 76 FIRs and charge-sheets filed by the Jharkhand Police for offence under various sections of the Arms Act, the Explosive Substances Act, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for collection of levy, criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder, extortion, etc.
Rana was involved in levy/extortion from sand, mobile tower and forest wood contractors for the last 15 years.
During the probe it was found that Yadav and Rana invested the proceeds of crime in various movable and immovable properties in the name of their family members.
Earlier the ED had attached Rs 5.74 crore assets of other Maoist leaders of Bihar and Jharkhand namely Sandeep Yadav, Pradumn Sharma, Musafir Sahni, Vinay Yadav and Vinod Kumar Ganju.
( With inputs from IANS )