Arrested Pinjra Tod activist Narwal now booked under UAPA
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Friday booked arrested Pinjra Tod activist Natasha Narwal under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for her alleged role in inciting the communal riots in Northeast Delhi in February.
Narwal was re-arrested by the special cell, a day after a Delhi court sent her and Devangana Kalita, another activist of Pinjra Tod, to Tihar Jail for 14 days in a case related to Delhi’s communal violence that claimed 53 people and left over 400 injured.
Narwal is the seventh person to be booked under UAPA in the case in which suspended Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain and two Jamia students – Meeran Haider and Safoora Zargar – are in judicial custody. A police officer privy to the investigation, who did not wish to be named, said, “Narwal was arrested since there is enough evidence to establish the charges against her. The decision to book and arrest Kalita would depend on how much evidence we collect against her.”
NEW DELHI : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth $50.90 million (about Rs 385.44 crore), including a villa in Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah and five Swiss bank accounts, linked to Agustawestland case suspect Rajiv Saxena.
The villa is worth 20 million dirhams and the money attached in five accounts is worth $45.5 million, the agency said in a press statement on Friday.
An accused-turned-approver in the ₹3,600-crore Agustawestland helicopter deal, Saxena was deported to India from the UAE on January 31, 2019, and arrested under money laundering act. ED has claimed that Saxena, a Dubaibased businessman, is a hawala operator. ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are probing allegations of corruption and money laundering in the 2007 contract for the purchase of 12 luxury VVIP helicopters for use by top leaders. The deal was cancelled on January 1, 2014 over the allegations of wrongdoing.
ED has tried to get Saxena’s approver status revoked, claiming that he misled investigators and withheld crucial information. However, a Delhi court has refused to do so — a decision has been challenged by the agency in the high court.
“Rajiv Saxena manages the proceeds of crime and tainted funds of many high profile and High Net worth Individuals (HNIS). He has admitted to laundering the proceeds of crime not only of Agustawestland deal but also various other defence deals. The proceeds of crime have also been transferred to the personal accounts of Rajiv Saxena and his wife Shivani Saxena (also an accused in Agustawestland case),” the ED press release said.
Saxena’s lawyer, RK Handoo, said, “What’s happening is very wrong and is harassment of Rajiv Saxena by the agency. He was made an approver and then now agency is making these claims.”
ED said Saxena is a “hawala operator who runs accommodation entry business in Dubai through... Matrix group companies, and has laundered proceeds of crime in Agustawestland chopper scam and Moser Baer bank fraud case”. The Moser Baer case is linked to businessman Ratul Puri, the nephew of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, and his father Deepak Puri.