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After taking on Kashmiri separatists, ED books Maoist leader for money laundering
Enforcement Directorate sources said a case has been registered against BJSAC commander Sandeep Yadav — wanted by police in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh — under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a money-laundering case against a senior Maoist commander in an attempt to curb funding of Left-wing insurgents across Bihar and Jharkhand.
This development comes in the backdrop of a major crackdown by the economic intelligence agency on Kashmiri separatist groups, based on allegations that they received funds from Pakistani agencies to stoke violence in the Valley.
ED sources said a case has been registered against Sandeep Yadav, alias Badka Bhaiya, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The central zonal commander of the Bihar-Jharkhand Special Area Committee (BJSAC), Yadav is wanted by the police in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
The group is linked to the Communist Party of India (Maoist).
A senior ED official said Yadav, who has 88 criminal cases registered against him, was identified as the prime accused in the murder of former Gaya MP Rajesh Kumar in 2005. A resident of Baburamdih village in Bihar, he has been booked under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and Explosives Substances Act.
“We had received information that Yadav has accumulated movable and immovable assets with money obtained through illegal financial channels. The probe will focus on unearthing these channels, thereby clamping down on funding for Left-wing extremists,” a source told Hindustan Times.
