Gangster Ejaz Lakdawala has written to the special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court alleging that his barrack-mate, the disgraced banker Rana Kapoor, has been managing frequent court dates which allow him to leave the jail premises often. Lakdawala, who has sought information from the court relating to Kapoor’s various cases, says the banker is “running his office” from the court premises.
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Lakdawala has claimed that he overheard Kapoor telling others in their barrack that he has bribed people to get his nearly-daily production before the special court where he meets his family, friends and other associates. “He (Rana Kapoor) is with me in the same prison and in the same Anda Cell. I hear him saying all the time that he has bribed the court and jail authorities for his daily production, without getting his case charge framed,” says Lakdawala in his hand-written letter dated 20th March. He has further requested the court to take action against Kapoor and the concerned jail officials.
The PMLA court had asked Rana Kapoor to give a detailed repose to Lakdawala’s allegations made by the gangster. In his reply, submitted on Thursday, Kapoor rubbished the allegations. He said he was arrested in 2020 and for two years during the lockdown he had not been produced before the court. He further told the court that he only ever meets his wife and daughters and members of his legal team in court and no one else hence the question of “running his office from the court premise” as claimed by Lakdawala, did not arise.
{{/usCountry}}The PMLA court had asked Rana Kapoor to give a detailed repose to Lakdawala’s allegations made by the gangster. In his reply, submitted on Thursday, Kapoor rubbished the allegations. He said he was arrested in 2020 and for two years during the lockdown he had not been produced before the court. He further told the court that he only ever meets his wife and daughters and members of his legal team in court and no one else hence the question of “running his office from the court premise” as claimed by Lakdawala, did not arise.
{{/usCountry}}Rana Kapoor has claimed that there is no connection between his cases and the gangster’s cases, and hence Lakdawala had no locus to seek information about the cases against him. Besides, he told the court, all the details pertaining to his cases were already available on the court’s website. Kapoor prayed that the court dismiss Lakdawala’s petition. The PMLA court is expected to pass an order on the plea at the next hearing.
When contacted, a senior jail official at Taloja said that under-trial prisoners are brought out of jail and handed over to the police escort to be taken to court on the dates given by their respective courts. However, sources close to Lakdawala told HT during one of his court hearings that the jail officials were biased against him and had even disallowed him from using his favourite perfume. A few months ago, Lakdawala had also trapped hundreds of mosquitoes in a mineral water bottle and presented to the court as part of his complaint about the mosquito menace at Taloja jail.
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A former associate of Dawood Ibrahim, Lakdawala was arrested by Mumbai police from Patna airport on January 8, 2020. He was on India’s most-wanted list from 1998 when he escaped from Nashik jail. He was wanted in multiple cases of murder, attempt to murder and extortion.
Rana Kapoor was arrested in March 2020 by Enforcement Directorate for money laundering. He stands accused of creating a web of over 100 firms to siphon off ₹670 crores.
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