Four accused of misusing Rs4.7cr trust funds sent to cop custody

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The four accused arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in connection with the alleged misuse of Rs4.7 crore collected in the name of religious activities through a non-existent trust were on Friday remanded to seven-day police custody, till Jan 15.The arrests followed a raid conducted by the ATS on Thursday near Patrud village in Majalgaon taluka of Beed district. Although the ATS developed and registered the case, it has since been handed over to the Beed police for further investigation.Confirming the development, ATS superintendent of police Khanderao Dharne said the agency carried out the preliminary investigation and registered the offence before transferring the matter to the district police for continued follow-up. "The ATS laid the groundwork and registered the offence, after which the case was handed over to the Beed police," he said.According to the investigators, the accused allegedly used the registration number of the Ahilyanagar-based Faizan-e-Kanzul Iman Trust to operate under the name of Gulzar-e-Raza Trust and opened five bank accounts in Latur. Through these accounts, a total of Rs 4,73,67,503 was deposited over time, for religious work, but was allegedly diverted for personal benefit.The accused — Imran Kaleem Shaikh, Mujjammil Noor Sayyed, Ahmeduddin Kaiser Qazi and Taufiq Javed Qazi — were detained during the ATS raid conducted around 4.30 pm on Thursday.Beed SP Navneet Kanwat said the accused were produced before a court on Friday and remanded to police custody till Jan 15. "We are working to find all possible details in this case," Kanwat said, adding that the investigation is being monitored at a senior level in the police hierarchy.The probe revealed that a signboard of Gulzar-e-Raza Trust was installed at Patarud village. However, document verification showed that the trust was not validly registered.