NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Monday alleged that Chhagan Bhujbal’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was another example of misuse of power by the ED.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Monday alleged that Chhagan Bhujbal’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was another example of misuse of power by the ED. Claiming that Bhujbal has been arrested wrongly, the NCP leader said that the BJP would have to pay the price for it. He also said that the arrest has not affected his party.
Bhujbal has been in jail for almost two months now and except for the first couple of days after his arrest on March 14 this year, the NCP has maintained a silence on his case. This has also led to speculations in the political circle that the NCP wants to distance itself from Bhujbal, who was once the party’s number two leader after Mr Pawar.
Mr Pawar, while speaking on the sidelines of a function in Satara, alleged that the BJP has been brazenly misusing the power against its political opponents.
“If Bhujbal is guilty, he will face the consequences. But if he has been arrested wrongly, then the BJP will have to pay a heavy price for it,” the NCP leader said.
The ED had filed a 11,500-page chargesheet on March 30, naming Chhagan Bhujbal, Pankaj, Sameer, DB Realty, Balwa group of companies, Neelkamal Realtors and Builders Private Limited, Neelkamal Central Apartment LLP and Kakade Infrastructure. The agency had filed two FIRs against Bhujbals and others under the anti-money laundering laws.
The ED has claimed that “there are reasons to believe that Bhujbal is guilty of the offence of money laundering”. According to the ED, Bhujbal and his family members created a web of companies to route the proceeds of scams “to bring the illicit gains to the financial system and to project it as untainted”.
