ED TROUBLE FOR PARAB, UDDHAV’S CLOSE AIDE

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday raided the premises of senior Shiv Sena minister Anil Parab in a money laundering case. The searches were conducted at seven locations in Pune, Mumbai and Dapoli after the probe agency filed a fresh case against the Shiv Sena leader under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED’s action pertains to the allegations of purchase of a parcel of land in Dapoli by Mr Parab in 2017 for a consideration of `1 crore.

The land was later allegedly sold to a Mumbai-based cable operator Sadanand Kadam in 2020 for a consideration of `1.10 crore. In between, a resort was built on the same land.

The income-tax department had started an investigation against Mr Parab a few months ago and claimed to have found evidence that Rs six crore unaccounted cash was spent on the construction of the resort at Dapoli.

According to reports, the ED is investigating some other charges also.

Mr Parab is a key person handling his party’s election strategy for the upcoming civic election in Mumbai and a close confidant strong supporter of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Mr Parab is the second Shiv Sena leader to come under the radar of the Enforcement Directorate in the last 24 hours after Yashwant Jadhav.

The Enforcement Directorate had on Wednesday issued summons to Shiv Sena leader and former chairman of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) standing committee, Yashwant Jadhav, in connection with the alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).