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Mumbai:
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s brother-in-law found himself raided by the Enforcement Directorate with the agency freezing Rs 6.45 crore in his assets in a money laundering case, officials said on Tuesday.
The move came two weeks after the Income Tax Department conducted a series of raids of people linked to his son Aaditya Thackeray, a minister, and colleague Anil Parab prompting their party Shiv Sena to accuse the BJP at the centre of selectively targeting political opponents.
“The ED (Enforcement Directorate) is acting under political pressure. They are trying to make us bend through central agencies. All states that don’t have BJP governments are facing this. Yesterday, Mamata Banerjee’s nephew was questioned by ED. This smacks of a demonic autocracy,” Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut said on Monday.
Veteran politician and Uddhav Thackeray’s ally from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Sharad Pawar echoed him, “This is all political. Five years ago no one knew what the ED was.”
In a statement, the agency which probes financial crimes said it has issued a provisional order to “attach” 11 residential flats in Neelambari project, located in Thane near Mumbai, of Shree Saibaba Grihanirmiti Private Limited. Attaching a property means it cannot be transferred, converted or moved.
Shridhar Madhav Patankar, the brother of Mr Thackeray’s wife Rashmi, “owns and controls” Shree Saibaba Grihanirmiti Private Limited, it said.
The agency alleged funds that were allegedly siphoned off in a money laundering case being investigated against a company named Pushpak Bullion were “parked” in the real estate projects of Shree Saibaba Grihanirmiti Pvt. Ltd.
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