ED attaches Sharad Pawar's grandnephew Rohit Pawar's properties worth ₹50 cr

Updated on: Mar 8, 2024, 18:49:47 IST

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The Enforcement Directorate on Friday attached assets worth over ₹50 crore of a sugar mill owned by Sharad Pawar's grandnephew Rohit Pawar. Rohit Pawar is a 38-year-old MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed who emerged as a strong leader of Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party after Ajit Pawar's exit. Rohit Pawar was earlier summoned by the ED in connection with a ration scam.

ED attaches Sharad Pawar's nephew Rohit Pawar's properties worth ₹50 crore (Deepak Salvi)

A total of 161.30 acres of land, plant, machinery and building of the Kannad Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Limited (Kannad SSK) located in Kannad village of Aurangabad district has been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED said in a statement.

After Rohit Pawar appeared before the ED, he said there was clearly a political motive behind the timing of the inquiry by the ED. "Election is nearby, so people feel that these proceedings against opposition leaders are because of that...probe is happening against only opposition leaders," Rohit Pawat said.

On January 24, ED interrogated Rohit Pawar for about 10 hours in the money laundering case and called him for interrogation again on February 1.

MSC Bank scam amounting to ₹25,000 crore triggered the filing of a PIL in the Bombay High Court by four persons. The PIL shed light on the alleged modus operandi of the fraud. In the petition, it was alleged that some sugar mills defaulted on the loans, which were given without due diligence. Those sugar mills were attached by the MSC banks and auctioned to various office bearers of the bank and politicians.

Acting on the PIL, the Bombay High Court ordered the registration of a case. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW), which is under the Maharashtra government, investigated the case. When EOW filed a closure report in 2020 in the Bombay Session Court, ED filed an intervention petition against the closure report and started an investigation.

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