Highlights
- Officials said the two seized properties were worth more than 10 crores
- The properties owned by Gayatri Prajapati were registered in the name of his domestic help
- The properties are situated in Indrajeet Kheda
Gayatri Prajapati's two properties worth crores of rupees were attached by the Enforcement Directorate in Lucknow. According to the details, the two properties were worth more than 10 crores and were registered in the name of Prajapati’s domestic help Ram Sahai.
The properties are situated in Indrajeet Kheda.
The ED has also been informed of 10 other properties of jailed former minister Gayatri Prajapati, registered in the name of Sahai. All such properties are set to be located in the Mohanlalganj area of Lucknow.
The ED is of the view that these properties are benami assets of Prajapati himself.
On August 4, 2019, the ED registered a case of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, against Prajapati, following which his properties were attached.
With the fresh crackdown, ED officials have said that a probe in the matter is on and further attachment of more benami properties in Mumbai, Lucknow and other places will be done and further prosecution complaints will be filed soon.
ED had earlier attached several properties and bank balances of former cabinet minister Gayatri Prajapati, his family members and their companies to the tune of Rs 36.9 crore.
Gangrape case against Gayatri Prajapati
In November last year, Gayatri Prajapati and two others were sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court for gang-raping a woman and her minor daughter.
The special court for lawmakers headed by Additional Sessions Judge PK Rai also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on each convict.
The court had found all the three guilty of committing gangrape under section 376 (D) of the IPC and making "gang penetrative sexual assault on a child" under section 5 (g) read with section 6 of the POSCO Act.
Prajapati held transport and mining portfolios in the Akhilesh Yadav cabinet and was arrested in March 2017. He had been in jail since then.
The FIR against the minister was registered at the Gautampalli police station on Feb 18, 2017, under the directions of the Supreme Court, which had given its order on the woman's plea against the police inaction over her complaint.
The woman had claimed that the minister and his accomplices have been raping her since October 2014 and she decided to complain against them after they targetted her minor daughter as well in July 2016.
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