The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday attached three houses and two landed properties of former MLA Anosh Ekka and his wife Menon Ekka worth over Rs 5 crore in Ranchi under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The former minister, currently serving life sentence for murdering a Simdega para-teacher, is an accused in a Rs 16.83-crore money laundering case. He allegedly misused his position as a minister in the Jharkhand government in 2005-08 to amass assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. The properties were acquired both in his name and that of his family members.

In the morning, ED officials sealed a palatial mansion, worth around Rs 1.77 crore, on Hinoo-Airport Road registered in the name of Menon. In the evening, they sealed two flats in Lalpur. Officials have also taken possession of two plots in the name of Ekka and his wife in Siromtoli and Ormanjhi.

“The mansion, flats and plot have been seized by ED. This means the Ekkas are no longer owners of these properties that they raised by misusing Anosh Ekka’s official position. We are acting on the basis of an order issued by our adjudicating authority,” said a senior official of the directorate.

The ED had put up confiscation notices on all the properties. However, within an hour of the mansion on Hinoo-Airport Road being sealed, unidentified persons removed the notice. “The act of mischief is not going to affect legal possession. But, we are going to write to the state DGP seeking proper security against further trespassing and damage,” said the official.

To take possession of the building in Hinoo, the ED had had to fight a legal battle before a PMLA tribunal.

In 2010, the ED had made provisional attachment of this building and the same was challenged by Ekka. In 2011, the tribunal ordered a status quo in favour of Ekka. The ED won the legal battle in the first week of September this year, when the tribunal finally validated the attachment order.