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Money laundering case: ED raids 7 places linked to Shiv Sena MP Bhavana Gawali
ED also raided three places in Maharashtra in connection with the money laundering case registered against former state home minister Anil Deshmukh
Mumbai
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted searches at seven places in Maharashtra linked to Bhavana Gawali, Shiv Sena MP from Yavatmal-Washim, in connection with an investigation into alleged money laundering, people aware of the development said.
The central agency on Monday also raided three places in Maharashtra in connection with the money laundering case registered against former state home minister Anil Deshmukh. These places are related to Nagpur’s deputy RTO Bajrang Kharmate, said to be a close associate of transport minister Anil Parab, a close confident of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. However, ED did not reveal the places that were raided.
The central agency has already issued summons to Parab and asked him to attend the agency’s office in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The raids have come after a viral video showed Parab purportedly instructing the superintendent of police of Ratnagiri to arrest Union minister Narayan Rane without waiting for an arrest warrant.
On Monday, ED officers along with armed Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans raided five institutions controlled by Gawali, including Janshikshan Sanstha at Rishod, a degree college at Shirpur, an Ayurveda college at Degaon, Shri Balaji Sahakari Particle Board Karkhana Ltd at Malegaon, and Mahila Utkarsha Pratishthan at Rishod. Two other places, including one in Mumbai, were also raided, the people added.
ED officers claimed they have seized some documents and recorded statements of some people during the raids.
Officers of the central agency said they have registered a case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on the basis of a first information report (FIR) registered with Washim police in connection with alleged financial irregularities in a trust linked to Gawali. ED suspects Gawali’s involvement in money laundering and embezzlement of funds to the tune of ₹17 crore as well as misuse of power in obtaining government grants and funds for a project.
Gawali is a five-term Lok Sabha member, representing Yavatmal-Washim constituency since 1999.
People cited above said the alleged irregularities revolve around Gawali obtaining loan of around ₹43 crore from National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) through Balaji Sahkari Particle Board, which was allegedly misused and not utilised for the purpose the loan was provided.
Harish Sarda, former vice-president of Shiv Sena’s Washim district unit, first unearthed the alleged misappropriation of funds at Shri Balaji Sahakari Particle Board Karkhana and named Gawali in his complaints to various authorities, including police. He also filed petition before the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court after local police and other authorities did not act on his complaints.
Sarda in his complaint to the police alleged money laundering and embezzlement by Gawali and her associates by misusing power in obtaining grants and funds for Balaji plant located at Malegaon in Washim. Gawali’s father Pudalikrao, who also represented the region in the Lok Sabha, was its chief promoter. The factory was set up in 1998 to collect crop residue and use it for preparation of particle boards for making furniture, partition material and other purposes. The aim of the project was to provide employment to local farmers, Sarda said in his complaint.
However, the factory never started functioning. In 1998, the estimated project cost was ₹43.85 crore but it was allegedly undervalued to ₹7.9 crore by a firm called MITCON and was later sold to Bhavna Agro Products run by Gawali on August 16, 2010.
The complainant also claimed that Gawali’s father illegally transferred 14.90 hectares of factory land to Mahila Utkarsha Pratishthan in 2001 without obtaining necessary permission from competent authorities. Cooperative society land cannot be transferred to any public trust without government approval, Sarda had stated.
Last year, Sarda sought thorough investigation into irregularities from any central law enforcement agency like ED or Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
ED initiated an investigation in the matter and is also looking into alleged misappropriation of funds availed by Gawali’s firm Bhavana Agro Products and Service Ltd from the two banks. The agency is likely to summon Gawali for questioning.
Shiv Sena on Monday said action against party leaders was “vendetta politics”, adding that it won’t have an impact on Sena or the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
“The ED is hand in glove with BJP and this must be investigated… For the past few days, BJP leaders had been saying that Anil Parab is next [to face ED action]. Either ED has kept one desk officer in BJP headquarters or a BJP office-bearer has been deputed as a desk officer in ED. Hence, all these actions are happening. Otherwise how did they know that Anil Parab will get notice or when he will be summoned for questioning. Kirit Somaiya, Chandrakant Patil and many others know,” Sena leader Sanjay Raut said.
Responding to the allegation, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said, “Everybody has the freedom to level allegations. But ED, CBI and other agencies are independent bodies that are not controlled by one person or one party.”
