Hyderabad ED steps up to confiscate 91 properties tied to Nayeem and associates

Hyderabad: Sleuths of the Enforcement Directorate, Hyderabad, have filed a Prosecution Complaint in the gangster Nayeem case.

The persons named in the PC include Pasham Srinivas, Haseena Begum, Mohammed Thahera Begum, Mohammed Saleema Begum, Mohammed Abdul Saleem, Ahela Begum, Syed Nilofar, Firdous Anjum, Mohammed Arif and Heena Kousar.

The complaint requests that the 91 properties, which were forcefully registered in the names of Nayeem’s family members and aides, be confiscated. The properties were attached by the I-T Department but were not attached by the ED during the PMLA investigation.

What is the case?

The ED has initiated an investigation based on the FIR registered by the Telangana Police against Md. Abdul Faheem, Haseena Begum, Pasham Srinivas, Md. Abdul Nasir, Thumma Srinivas, B Shravan Kumar and Sathish Reddy for forceful occupation and selling of land by the deceased gangster Khaja Nayeemuddin alias Nayeem and his associates.

ED also received a reference from the Income Tax department regarding action taken under the Prohibition of Benami Property and Transaction Act, 1988, against Nayeem, Haseena Begum, Tahera Begum and others. The action was taken based on information received from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Telangana Government to probe the immovable properties illegally acquired by Nayeem and his associates.

The ED investigation revealed that Nayeem along with his associates and family members, was involved in forceful registration of properties of various individuals by threatening them with their life and the lives of their family members.

Forceful registration of land through abduction

The modus operandi employed by them was to identify properties, then threaten their owners for the sale/transfer of the properties in the name of Nayeem’s associates or his family members.

If the owner of the property did not yield to their demands, they used to abduct them or their family members and then pressurise them to come to the Sub-Registrar Offices for registration of the properties in the name of Nayeem’s associates or his family members.

The ED investigation further revealed that Nayeem, through the forceful registration of the sale deed, projected the illegally acquired properties as genuine.

However, the sellers did not get any compensation for the sale of their properties. The sellers were threatened to an extent that they could not muster the courage to file complaints with the police or any other authority.

Pasham Srinivas was a close associate of Nayeem and closely worked with him for the extortion of properties from original owners and got the properties forcefully registered in the names of associates or family members of Nayeem.

A total of 91 properties were forcefully registered in the names of Nayeem’s family members and associates.

These properties represent Proceeds of Crime (PoC) liable for attachment under the provisions of PMLA and consequent confiscation to the Central Government.

However, since all these properties were already attached by the Income Tax Department under the Prohibition of Benami Property and Transaction Act, 1988, the same were not attached by ED during the PMLA investigation. Confiscation of the said attached properties by the Central Government has, however, been requested in the Prosecution Complaint filed by ED.