The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing NCP MLA from Karjat-Jamshed assembly seat, Rohit Pawar, who is also NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s grandnephew. Pawar is under the scanner for his role as a director in Green Acre Resort & Real Touch from 2006 to 2012, when HDIL promoter Rakesh Wadhawan was also on the board.
Sources said that a few BJP activists had demanded that the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigate Rohit Pawar’s alleged connection with the Patra Chawl scam, the DHFL scam, and the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank fraud case, for which Wadhawan is in jail.
Sources said that the ED has initiated a preliminary probe based on a complaint pertaining to international transfer of money by the company. The ED will also look into the business links, if any, between Rohit Pawar and Wadhawan. The agency will also look into the transactions by the company shareholders and directors. The ED is expected to examine the money laundering angle during its probe.
Though the Free Press Journal couldn’t contact Rohit Pawar despite several attempts, state NCP chief spokesman Mahesh Tapase said, “His (Rohit’s) name has cropped up due to revenge politics. The ED is being used against political opponents. He is not a director of Green Acre. The leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, who are speaking against the BJP on inflation and unemployment, are being trapped in such probes.”
NCP’s former ministers Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh are already in jail in connection with money laundering cases.
Rohit Pawar had earlier claimed that the ED has been misused by the Centre against political opponents and hinted that he may receive notice from the Central agency. He had earlier said, “The ED has initiated investigations against leaders from the NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena, but not BJP. It is used like a tool rather than an institute. Now, even the common man is discussing the ED and referring to it as a political tool. It may happen tomorrow that ED may send me a summons, so we all are prepared for it.”
