The Enforcement Directorate conducted searches on Friday at multiple locations related to a company owned by MLA Rohit Pawar, who is the grandnephew of Rajya Sabha MP Sharad Pawar.
The searches are part of an ongoing investigation into the alleged scam involving the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank, according to official sources.
At least six locations, including Baramati, Pune, Pimpri, and Aurangabad, are currently under scrutiny. The focus extends to the offices of Baramati Agro situated in Baramati town.
Rohit Pawar, aged 38, serves as a first-time MLA, representing the Karjat-Jamkhed seat in Maharashtra. As the owner and CEO of Baramati Agro, he aligns with the Sharad Pawar faction within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Notably, Rohit Pawar is the nephew of Baramati MP Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar, the state's deputy chief minister and Baramati MLA, adding a layer of political significance to the investigation. The ED's actions stem from an August 2019 FIR initiated by the Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing, connected to the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam.
The Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank money laundering case stems from an August 2019 FIR of the Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing.
The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar Group), reacting to the raids, said Rohit Pawar's just concluded 'Yuva Sangharsh Yatra' has "hit a nerve" and made the BJP insecure.
The MLA, currently abroad on a family vacation, had undertaken a foot march from Pune to Nagpur late last year to highlight the issues faced by youngsters in Maharashtra.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe against his firm pertains to allegations of "diversion" of funds and deposit of earnest funds of a company that bid for the purchase of a Maharashtra-based ailing cooperative sugar factory, the sources said.
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya demanded an expeditious probe into the acquisition of a cooperative sugar factory by Baramati Agro.
The former MP said in a post on X, "We requested the ED to investigate the acquisition of Kannad cooperative sugar factory by Rohit Pawar's Baramati Agro at a very much under-valued price of Rs 50 crore through manipulated auction of Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank."
The police complaint came after Bombay High Court issued an order on August 22, 2019, to investigate the allegations of selling sugar factories in the Maharashtra cooperative sector through alleged fraudulent means and also that they were sold at throwaway prices.
