Hasan Ali case: ED questions Kashinath Tapuriah, Amlendu Pandey in Mumbai

Enforcement Directorate sleuths today jointly grilled Kashinath Tapuriah, a key aide of Pune-based stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan, and Bihar Congress leader Amlendu Pandey at its office here.

The ED summoned Pandey to appear in its south Mumbai office while Kolkata-based businessman Tapuriah was brought to the south Mumbai office of the agency from Arthur Road Jail where he has been lodged since his arrest last month, ED sources said.

The duo was made to "confront" each other and was "grilled" jointly on various aspects, they said.

A sessions court had recently permitted the ED to take Tapuriah from Arthur Road Jail to ED office on April 18 and 19 for questioning.

According to ED sources, Amlendu Pandey, who has been under the scanner for allegedly helping Khan procure a passport from Patna by forging documents, was today interrogated for the second time in a week.

The ED had earlier said that searches at Tapuriah's residence led to recovery of a large number of documents, including "instructions" to transfer money from the accounts held by Khan to various other accounts, and also a copy of correspondence with Swiss banking powerhouse UBS.

Khan, Pandey and Tapuriah had allegedly travelled to Singapore in 1997 to open an account in the UBS.

Khan, who was arrested in the first week of March by the ED, is accused of massive money-laundering, tax evasion and stashing away huge amounts in foreign banks.

According to a CAG report, Khan and Tapuriahs owe the government about Rs75,000 crore in taxes.