Ambidant scam: Mehfuz Ali Khan sent to judicial custody

High drama prevailed at the magistrate court on Tuesday, after the city civil and sessions court cancelled the anticipatory bail of K Mehfuz Ali Khan, aide of Ballari mining baron G Janardhana Reddy in the Ambidant Marketing Private Limited money-laundering case. Khan surrendered before the magistrate, who remanded him in judicial custody.

By the time CCB ACP Venkatesh Prasanna came running to the magistrate court holding Ali’s bail cancellation order, Khan was already remanded in judicial custody.

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) filed an application before the sessions court, seeking that his anticipatory bail be cancelled, so that they can take his custody for further investigation.

By the time the CCB police reached the magistrate court, Ali had surrendered. Since magistrate had not received any application from the CCB seeking his custody, he reminded Ali in judicial custody for 14 days.

The first additional chief metropolitan magistrate told CCB officials that since the order of his judicial custody was passed, they could file an application seeking his custody on Thursday.

The CCB police produced Farooq Wahab, accused number seven in the case, and sought for his custody. Hearing the application, the magistrate granted custody till November 27 to interrogate him in the case.

Police submitted before the magistrate that the investigation revealed that Ambidant company owner Sayed Ahmed Fareed had deposited Rs 3.5 crore in Wahab’s account and that he did not return that money to the company. Since the money belonged to the investors, the police had arrested him to know details about where he had invested it. Police said he owns a company in Chennai.