New Delhi, Aug 25 (PTI) Immovable assets worth Rs 13 crore of an aide of Uttar Pradesh-based Chhangur Baba has been attached under the anti-money laundering law in an alleged illegal religious conversion racket case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Monday.

The assets belong to Nitu Navin Rohra. The 13 immovable properties are located at Utraula in Balrampur district, the federal probe agency said in a statement.

Nitu Rohra is the wife of Chhangur Baba's close aide Navin Rohra.

Both Chhangur Baba and Navin Rohra are currently under judicial custody after the ED arrested them as part of its investigation.

The money laundering case against Chhangur Baba and his aides stems from an FIR lodged by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) at a police station in Lucknow's Gomti Nagar under various sections of the IPC and the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021.

The ED that alleged Chhangur Baba and Navin Rohra hatched a "well-planned" conspiracy and utilised the bank account of Navin Rohra's Dubai-based company named United Marine FZE to get funds from unknown, suspicious sources.

Funds amounting to Rs 21.08 crore were routed to India through the NRE/NRO accounts of Navin Rohra, the ED said.

"The money brought by Chhangur Baba and Navin Rohra from Dubai to India was utilised to acquire a number of immovable properties in the name of Nitu Rohra in Utraula," it said.

Chhangur Baba and his associates allegedly established an "extensive" network operating from the premises of the Chand Auliya Dargah in Balrampur, where he regularly organised large gatherings attended by both Indian and foreign nationals.

He is accused of systematically inducing, coercing, and manipulating individuals of other faiths, particularly the Scheduled Castes, and economically disadvantaged persons belonging to the Hindu religion into religious conversion. PTI NES ARI

Money laundering attachment of immovable assets follows alleged routing of foreign funds to buy property in a conversion racket. ED invoked the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to attach immovable properties belonging to Nitu Navin Rohra in Utraula, alleging that foreign funds were routed through a Dubai company and NRE/NRO accounts of Navin Rohra and used to purchase the attached properties as proceeds of an alleged illegal religious conversion racket linked to Chhangur Baba and associates.