NCP MLA Rohit Pawar, the grand nephew of Sharad Pawar, appeared before the ED on Thursday in connection with a money laundering probe
Rohit Pawar. File Pic
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Rohit Pawar, the grand nephew of party supremo Sharad Pawar, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday in connection with a money laundering probe into the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam, an official said, reported the PTI.
This is the second time that Rohit Pawar appeared before the ED in the last 10 days.
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The 38-year-old MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed was earlier questioned by the ED on January 24.
On Thursday, he reached the ED's office situated at Ballard Estate in South Mumbai at 1.05 pm.
His family members accompanied him till the agency's office in Mumbai, according to the PTI.
Sharad Pawar's wife Pratibha Pawar was present at the NCP office located nearby, as the legislator appeared before the ED.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule are currently in New Delhi for Parliament session.
Hundreds of NCP workers, who had come from across the state, gathered at the NCP office here as well as near the ED's establishment and staged an agitation against the agency's summons to Rohit Pawar, as per the PTI.
A large number of police personnel were deployed near the ED office and barricades were placed on roads leading to it.
Before his earlier appearance at Enforcement Directorate (ED) office last month, Rohit Pawar had tweeted, “I will cooperate with the agency. But looking at the current politics of revenge, as there is a lot of pressure from the government on all the systems, under this pressure, if ED takes any wrong action against me, no one should be afraid. Instead, everyone should stand united with respected Pawar sahib and every person who preserves the self-respect of Maharashtra and believes in the constitution. Because we want to maintain the self-respect of Maharashtra without bowing to anyone and preserve the Maharashtrian religion.”
The ED initiated an investigation in 2019 based on an FIR filed by Mumbai police’s Economic Offence Wing (EOW) following the Bombay High Court’s directives. The FIR alleged fraudulent sales of cooperative sugar factories at low prices by officials and directors of Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) to related entities without proper procedure. In 2020, the EOW filed a closure report, but the ED intervened against it. In October 2022, the Mumbai Police EOW started probing points raised by protest petitioners and the ED, as informed to the court for MLAs and MPs.
(with PTI inputs)
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