ED team assaulted while conducting searches in Delhi farmhouse; FIR registered | Latest News Delhi

An Enforcement Directorate (ED) team was attacked in Delhi by the family of a chartered accountant (CA) at their farmhouse in Bijwasan near Kapashera where the former had gone to conduct searches on Thursday morning in connection with cybercrimes, police officials aware of the matter said.

Some members of the raiding team, including an assistant director-level officer leading the team, were injured in the altercation, one of the officers said, asking not to be named.

According to ED officials, a first information report (FIR) has been registered with the Delhi Police in connection with the assault.

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Deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Surendra Choudhary said that a six-member ED team accompanied by at least three security personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had gone to conduct a raid at the farmhouse belonging to a CA in Bijwasan area.

“The CA was present in the farmhouse along with his wife and a domestic help. There was a manhandling with some members of the raiding team. We are still gathering details regarding the exact sequence of events leading to the manhandling. More details will be shared as and when we get a clear picture of the entire incident,” said DCP Choudhary.

In a statement issued regarding the manhandling at the farmhouse, DCP Choudhary said that the ED’S raiding team was led by assistant director (AD) Suraj Yadav.

“It is found that one Ashok Kumar, a CA by profession, is the owner of the place. The ED team raided the farm regarding a money laundering case. They were accompanied by two women CRPF officers. They also called one male CRPF official on the spot later on. One person Yash who is relative of Ashok Kumar has been apprehended. Case is being registered,” added Choudhary.

The DCP has not clarified yet if anyone was injured in the manhandling or anyone received medical attention at any hospital after the incident.

According to an ED official, with the help of Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) and the Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND), cybercrimes like phishing cases, QR Code cheating instances were analysed in total to ascertain the source of such crimes.

“It was found that crime money was being layered into 15,000 mule accounts after which debit, and credit cards were obtained. Using these cards, money was remitted to top up virtual accounts on UAE based Pyypl Payment aggregator and then funds were used from Pyypl to buy Crypto currency. The entire network was being run by shady Chartered accountants”, an ED official aware of the details said, on the condition of anonymity.

“On Thursday, the ED HIU searched the top CAs involved in this racket. Searches are going on,” the ED official added.