Sena goes offensive, approaches Mumbai police against ED
The Hindu
Move follows IT raids on close aides of Aaditya Thackeray and another Maharashtra Minister
On a day when Income Tax (IT) officials raided a close aide of Maharashtra’s Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray and close contacts of Transport Minister Anil Parab, the Shiv Sena launched an offensive against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) by filing a complaint alleging extortion against the agency’s officials and one Jitendra Navlani.
“Jitendra Navlani’s seven companies received crores of rupees from different companies, days after they were raided by Enforcement Directorate. The ED officials are involved in extorting money from companies after raiding them. When I spoke last time, people asked me about papers. Today, I present to you all the papers,” said Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut at a press conference held at party headquarters Sena Bhavan.
Mr. Raut presented the papers claiming transactions of Navlani’s companies where they received money from Dewan Housing Finance Limited, Wadhawans of HDIL and Avinash Bhosle group of companies among others.
“All these transactions are right after ED raids. A complaint based on these papers has been filed with the Mumbai police against Navlani and four officials of the ED. These officials will soon be behind bars,” said Mr. Raut.
Asked about the names of the officials, Mr. Raut said he will disclose them once the Mumbai police complete their probe.
The Sena leader pointed out that Maharashtra and West Bengal are two States which have seen the highest number of ED raids and all against those who are anti-BJP.
“Fourteen leaders of the MVA and seven in WB had to face the raids. At the same time, ED officials are getting ticket to contest from the BJP. I state as a responsible MP that the said officer had financed 50 BJP MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh election. The ED has become an ATM of the BJP,” he said, mentioning that all these details were sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a letter.
The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.