I-T searches continue at premises linked to Ajit Pawar’s kin

The income tax (I-T) department’s search of premises linked to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and his kin which started last Thursday, continued well into its fourth day on Sunday

PUNE: The income tax (I-T) department’s search of premises linked to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and his kin which started last Thursday, continued well into its fourth day on Sunday with officials seen at Jarandeshwar sugar mill in Satara, Ambalika sugar mill at Karjat in Ahmednagar, and Dynamix dairy in Baramati. Sources at the sugar mills said that the income tax officials were scrutinising documents even as the department concluded its search operation at places owned by Ajit Pawar’s three sisters.

The income tax (I-T) department’s search of premises linked to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar (in pic) and his kin which started last Thursday, continued well into its fourth day on Sunday. (PTI FILE)

On Friday, Ajit Pawar termed the income tax department searches as “guests” and said that he will comment further once the operation is over and the “guests” return from various places. “The ‘guests’ are still at various homes. I will say more once they return,” Ajit Pawar said on Friday in Pune when the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led a show of strength against the income tax department’s raids outside central hall. Income tax officials raided Ajit Pawar’s two sisters’ houses and his son Parth’s office on Thursday. Sugar factories linked to him were also raided the same day.

Ajit Pawar’s cousin and NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s daughter, Supriya Sule, termed the action against her cousin sisters as an attack on women. She taunted the Bharatiya Janata Party saying that those who rule in the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj do not follow his principle of respecting women and act like the Mughals instead. Sharad Pawar has already reacted strongly to the income tax searches of premises linked to Ajit Pawar and kin saying that the action reeks of abuse of power and might be the BJP’s reaction to his strong position on the Lakhimpur Kheri incident which he likened to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Ajit Pawar’s name surfaced in a money laundering case involving the Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank in July after which the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached assets worth Rs65.75 crore belonging to the Jarandeshwar sugar mill in Satara district in connection with the case.