The special investigation team of Telangana police which is probing criminal activities of the slain Maoist-turned-gangster Mohammed Nayeemuddin and his associates is also looking into possible money-laundering transactions.
Nayeemuddin (45), wanted in several cases including murder of an IPS officer in 1993, was killed in an alleged encounter with police at Shadnagar in Mahabubnagar district on August 8.
The incident had occurred when police teams, tracking a case of attempted extortion registered in Nizamabad district, came under fire from a suspiciously moving SUV near Millennium Colony on the outskirts of Shadnagar.
Police on Tuesday conducted searches at different places in Nalgonda district, of which Nayeemuddin is a native and arrested nine persons, including four of his family members, on the charge of land-grabbing and extortion.
The police subsequently arrested several of his associates, and also carried out searches at several premises and seized weapons, explosives, gold ornaments and a large number of documents related to land transactions.
The SIT consists of B Srinivasa Reddy, Addl. DCP, Crimes, Cyberabad; Sridhar, Inspector of Police, Begumbazar, Hyderabad city; S Sudhakar, Inspector of Police, Tr PS, Uppal; Shakir Hussain, Inspector of Police, Wanaparthy Circle; Rajashekar Raju, Inspector of Police, Korutla Circle, Karimnagar; Samala Venkatesh, Inspector of Police, CCS, Sangareddy; P Madhusudhan Reddy, Inspector of Police, Kodad Circle; and and Seetharam, Inspector of Police, Armoor Circle.
"We may approach Income Tax Department, DRI and Enforcement Directorate to check if any money-laundering was involved. We have seized some documents pertaining to land deals," said Y Nagi Reddy, head of the SIT.
Value of the seized assets was being ascertained, he added.