THREE MONTHS after a special court discharged the promoters of Omkar Realtors and Developers, booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), they have sought release of their properties, cash and documents seized during the probe. Babulal Varma and Kamalkishore Gupta, the promoters of the group, also demanded that a Look-Out Circular issued against them be withdrawn.

In August, Varma and Gupta, and the others booked in a money-laundering case by the ED, were discharged after the court observed that in the absence of a scheduled offence, the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act cannot continue. The scheduled offence against them filed in Aurangabad was closed after the police submitted a report that there is no evidence. In their plea seeking withdrawal of the LOC, the two said, “The moment the persons are exonerated from the criminal case, it is futile to see that the LOC is kept open.”

After the ED filed a complaint, an LOC was issued against the accused to ensure that they do not flee the country. It states that they are businessmen in real estate and to earn their livelihood they need to frequently travel abroad.

In the other application seeking directions to the ED to release their properties, it has been submitted that the ED had seized Rs 9 lakh in cash and attached properties worth Rs 330 crore.