ED attaches assets of 'Icchadhari baba' in sex trade case

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday attached assets, including over a dozen bank accounts and cars, of a self-styled godman 'Icchadhari baba' in connection with money laundering probe against him and his associates for allegedly running a sex racket in Delhi.

The case dates back to 2010 when a Delhi police team nabbed the alleged kingpin of a flourishing sex racket in the national capital, Shiv Murat Dwivedi alias Shiva alias Rajeev alias Swami alias 'Icchadhari baba' when he was allegedly conducting a flesh trade deal near PVR Saket cinema along with his accomplices.

The police subsequently pressed charges under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act against Dwivedi and his associate
Praveen alongwith half-a-dozen girls who were apprehended from the same spot. The ED subsequently slapped criminal charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the two males.

This is a rare case where the ED had pressed money laundering charges in a case of women trafficking.

The central probe agency, under the latest action, has attached 13 bank accounts, two Honda Civic cars, a Hyundai Santro car, six life insurance policies, in the name of the godman and his associates.

"The total amount of attachment has not been quantified as there are many transactions connected and hence the accounts have been seized," sources said.

Also, sources said, the agency today filed a charge sheet in the case before a special court here.

A Delhi police charge sheet in the case in 2010 had said that Dwivedi had amassed wealth running into crores of rupees by running the flesh trade for over a decade in the national capital.

The kingpin hails from the Chitrakoot district of Uttar Pradesh and had come to Delhi in search of job.

A second case under the stringent MCOCA had been slapped by the Delhi police against Dwivedi and is under trial.