Guwahati, Aug. 2: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case against car-theft kingpin Anil Chauhan under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

An official source told The Telegraph that the case was registered at ED's Guwahati zonal office some days ago.

Chauhan, who was arrested by city police here in April, is currently in judicial custody in New Delhi in connection with cases registered against him in the capital.

The source said ED had initiated the proceedings against him to attach his ill-gotten money and properties.

City police had written to ED to probe the money-laundering aspect of the case since Chauhan had transacted in crores of rupees through his bank accounts and his wife Rita's besides amassing properties in different parts of the country.

Chauhan's wife is a member of the Guwahati unit of the Congress.

Investigations conducted by city police revealed that Chauhan had transacted around Rs 6.6 crore through 17 bank accounts, which have been frozen by the police.

He owns a house at Dwarka Nagar here and a plot of land measuring about 4.5 kathas at Dharamtul in Nagaon district. He is suspected to have benami properties at various places, including Delhi and Mumbai. "These assets are suspected to be from the proceeds of crime," the source said.

Before he took to crime in 1990, Chauhan used to ply an autorickshaw in New Delhi and later worked as a driver on contract at various government offices there.

He started stealing Maruti 800s in Delhi and later graduated to smuggling stolen vehicles to Nepal and the Northeast.

Delhi police first arrested Chauhan in 1991 but he soon managed to get bail.

He was earlier arrested several times in different states.

He was declared a proclaimed offender in 76 cases by courts in Delhi where over 200 cases are registered against him in different police stations.

In Assam, around 26 cases are registered against Chauhan. Meghalaya police had also arrested him from Silchar in Assam in 2010 but he continued to steal cars after being released on bail.

Assam Congress legislator Rumi Nath had landed in trouble for allegedly arranging car passes for the Assembly premises for Chauhan.

She was arrested on April 14 for her alleged links with the car-lifter.

Nath is currently out on bail granted by Gauhati High Court on June 2.

The police said the investigation of the cases against Chauhan and Nath were nearing completion and chargesheets would be filed soon.