Former Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prajapati. File.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached ₹60 lakh in moveable property belonging to Anil Kumar Prajapati, son of former Uttar Pradesh Mining Minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, in connection with an alleged disproportionate assets case.
The attached sum was in the form of a credit balance in the bank account of Balaji Corporation Private Limited, as the booking amount of a flat in a project named ‘Vertu’ in Wadala, Mumbai, retained by the builder.
The ED probe is based on a First Information Report registered by the U.P. Vigilance Establishment, Lucknow, against Mr. Gayatri Prasad Prajapati. “ED investigation revealed that Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, while holding the post of Mining Minister of Uttar Pradesh, misused his official position and had acquired huge assets disproportionate to his source of income in the name of his family members and other close associates/ friends…,” the agency said.
Mr. Gayatri Prasad Prajapati and his family members allegedly laundered the illicit funds generated during his tenure as a Minister in the U.P. government through various entities via a series of sham transactions and acquired multiple assets. He also used bank accounts of his family members to deposit the illegitimate cash earned by him, as alleged.
Earlier, the ED had attached 71 immoveable properties in the form of land/buildings acquired in the name of the former Minister’s family members, various legal entities, ‘benami’ holders, relatives, employees, and friends and deposits made in the bank accounts, totally valued at ₹50.37 crore. Searches were conducted at 13 locations in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Delhi.
Published – February 12, 2025 07:24 pm IST