Money laundering probe: NCP MLA Rohit Pawar appears before ED
Mumbai: NCP MLA Rohit Pawar, grandson of party supremo Sharad Pawar, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here on Wednesday for questioning in connection with the money laundering probe into the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam, an official said.
NCP MP Supriya Sule and other party leaders accompanied the 38-year-old MLA till the entrance of the investigating agency’s office.
The MLA reached the ED office in Ballard Estate, South Mumbai at around 10.30 am.
Before going to the investigating agency office, Rohit Pawar went to the nearby NCP office and met Sharad Pawar, touched his feet and also talked to other party leaders.
He also visited Vidhan Bhavan and paid homage to the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and the plaque of the Indian Constitution.
Before Rohit Pawar entered the ED office, Sule handed him a copy of the Indian Constitution.
She hugged him and he touched her feet before entering the investigating agency’s office.
Hundreds of NCP workers who had come here from across the state gathered at the party office in South Mumbai.
They raised slogans in support of Rohit Pawar and protested against ED.
While entering the NCP office, Rohit Pawar told reporters that he has cooperated with the agencies in the investigation in the past and will do so in future also.
NCP MLA from Karjat Jamkhed said, “The officials are doing their work, whatever documents they have asked for, we have given them. I will appear before them and give them whatever information they are asking for.”
The Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank money laundering case stems from an August 2019 FIR by the Economic Offenses Wing of Mumbai Police.
On January 5, ED searched Baramati Agro, a company owned by Rohit Pawar, and some related entities at Baramati, Pune, Aurangabad and some other places.
The case was filed after the Bombay High Court issued an order to probe allegations of alleged fraudulent sale of sugar mills in the Maharashtra cooperative sector and that they were sold at throwaway prices. .
