Sameer Bhujbal

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested Sameer Bhujbal, the nephew of NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, in connection with a money laundering case.

Earlier in the day, two teams of the ED raided nine properties including companies owned by NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal and his family members. The ED officials then grilled Sameer for more than eight hours on Monday.

“Two teams of ED started the raids at 6 am and raided flats, shop and offices situated in Worli, Kalyan, Dindoshi, Bandra and Andheri,\" said sources.

Sources said Sameer and Chhagan Bhujbal's son Pankaj were then called in for questioning at the ED office. Sameer reached the office around 2 pm. The ED officials started interrogating Sameer by 3 pm and the session lasted till 10 pm. On the other hand, Pankaj who is in USA, didn't come in for questioning.

“It is the initial stage and ED officials have just started the interrogation. The ED needs to interrogate both of them to determine the massive money trail,” said sources.

The ED decided to act against the politicians after they refused to cooperate with the ED in the ongoing investigation in two cases registered with the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED conducted raids at the company offices of Vishaka and Shefali Bhujbal, wives of Pankaj and Sameer, at Mumbai Education Trust (MET) building in Bandra and housing premises of Bhujbal.

The ED registered the PMLA case against Sameer and Pankaj Bhujbal in 2015 and is investigating two cases against the Bhujbals related to the Maharashtra Sadan scam and a fraud case registered in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai.