ED may not act against Mayawati’s brother until end of UP polls

ED had detected cash deposits of Rs 1.43 cr in Maya’s brother Anand Kumar’s account in Delhi, post demonetisation.

Any legal action against Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati’s brother Anand Kumar, allegedly involved in huge cash deposits in a bank branch here postdemonetisation, is likely to be delayed as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) may not initiate any action against him until the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are over, sources in the agency told The Sunday Guardian.

According to an ED official, cash deposits of over Rs 100 crore in a BSP account and Rs 1.43 crore in her brother Kumar’s account in Delhi were found when officials on a routine enquiry in the bank following the demonetisation decision, detected huge cash deposits in these two accounts.

The official said that Rs 102 crore was deposited in old Rs 1,000 currency notes, and Rs 3 crore was deposited in old Rs 500 denomination notes.

“The process of the Assembly elections in UP has started and any action by the ED against Kumar may spread a wrong perception among the general public that the department is working under its political masters,” the official said.

Talking about the alleged evidence available against Kumar, the ED official said: “The investigation against Kumar is still on; the agency has sought full details about the two accounts from the bank in which the cash was deposited and it has also sought the help of the Income Tax Department for further investigation.”

The official added: “There is enough evidence to initiate action against Kumar. The agency will initiate action against him on the basis of the evidence it has. We also are scanning various charges against him of illicit money transaction through a fictitious firm.”

The ED has also asked the bank concerned to provide it CCTV footage and KYC documents used to open the accounts, the official said.

The difficulties for Kumar are not just limited to charges of huge cash deposits, with a recent revelation by a TV channel against Kumar of being involved in multi-crore transactions through his fictitious firm by showing false shareholders. According to the report, some of the shareholders of his “company” do not even exist.

Mayawati had joined the opposition bandwagon against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation move and called the initiative a “political gimmick” ahead of the Assembly elections in the state.