AMN / WEB DESK
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday raided multiple locations belonging to state Transport Minister and senior party leader Anil Parab, a close aide of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, in Mumbai, Pune and Ratnagiri in an alleged money laundering case.
Fifty-seven-year-old Parab himself was at Ajinkyatara, his official bungalow in Mumbai, when the ED officials carried out the searches.
The simultaneous raids on seven premises belonging to Parab in a simultaneous operation that lasted for 12-long hours.
The ED officials began their raids at 6 am. Among other places they raided since morning were Parab’s official residence ‘Ajinkyatara’ in south Mumbai, his private residence, the residence of his close associate at Kothrud in Pune with whom the minister had financial dealings.
Among the places where raids were conducted included Ratnagiri town and Dapoli, a hill station in Ratnagiri district where the minister has constructed a holiday resort.
After the arrest of two ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ministers – Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh – both of the NCP, Parab is the third State minister to come under the scanner of the ED. Earlier, State Ministers Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik were arrested November 2, 2021 and February 23, 2022 in two separate money laundering cases. Deshmukh and Malik are currently behind the bars..
The ED has booked Parab under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Considered close to Thackerays for a few decades, Para is a lawyer. He played a role in the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in November 2019.It was at Parab’s suggestion that Aaditya Thackeray contested the Worli seat during the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly polls
Though the specific details of the raids were not yet known, official sources said that the ED was investigating, the allegations include purchase of a parcel of land in Dapoli by Parab in 2017 for a consideration of Rs 1 crore.
The ED had summoned Parab on August 29, 2021 in connection with allegations of corruption made against him by the incarcerated police officer Sachin Vaze.