New Delhi: Arrested Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari has been taken into custody by Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday in a money laundering case.

Ansari was taken into custody after he was produced before a court in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.

Ansari, a five-time former MLA, has been lodged in a jail at Banda in Uttar Pradesh for the last few years in connection with criminal cases being probed by the state police.

The 59-year-old was questioned by the ED in this case last year.

He was taken into custody by the ED under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after he was produced on Wednesday before a local court in Prayagraj on the basis of a production warrant moved by the agency, according to official sources, as reported by news agency PTI.

Earlier, the ED officials had arrested Mukhtar’s MLA son Abbas Ansari and brother-in-law Atif Raza in connection with the case. Mukhtar Ansari’s wife Afshan Ansari is also wanted by ED in the money laundering case and the central agency has issued a lookout notice against her.

The money laundering case against Mukhtar Ansari stems from multiple FIRs lodged by the Uttar Pradesh Police apart from two more FIRs lodged against a company called Vikas Constructions (a partnership firm) that was run by his wife, two brother-in-laws (including Atif Raza) and others, as reported by PTI.

Mukhtar Ansari is under the ED scanner in connection with at least 49 criminal cases booked against him including those on charges of land grabbing, murder and extortion. He faces trial in Uttar Pradesh in several cases, including attempt to murder and murder.