ED moves special court for custody of Hasan Ali aide

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate has moved an application at a special court here seeking custody of Kolkata-based businessman Kashinath Tapuriah, a close aide of Hasan Ali Khan. “We want to question Tapuriah in connection with certain transactions and therefore we moved an application on October 12,” an ED officer said. The application would be heard this week in the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, the officer said. The ED alleged that Pune-based businessman Khan and Tapuriah were involved in stashing billions of dollars in foreign banks, of which a large chunk was obtained by Khan through the sale of weapons to international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. [caption id=“attachment_110056” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Hasan Ali in this file photo. Reuters”] [/caption] Tapuriah had also helped in getting some contracts for supply of scrap to some top steel companies for Khan’s scrap trading business, the agency claimed. Khan is also facing close to Rs 70,000 crore tax demand notice from the Income Tax department. Both Khan and Tapuriah are currently under judicial custody and lodged at the Arthur Road prison here. PTI