ED working as BJP’s ‘ATM’, four agency officers being probed by Mumbai Police for extortion charges: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut | India News – Times of India
NEW DELHI: The Shiv Sena on Tuesday accused the Enforcement Directorate of working as the “ATM” of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said four of its officers were being probed by Mumbai Police for alleged extortion charges.
Shiv Sena, which heads the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government in Maharashtra also hit out at activist Kirit Somaiya and charged him with acting as ED’s ‘collection agent’.
The Sena leader alleged that one Jitendra Chandralal Navlani was acting as the custodian of the ill-gotten wealth and handling the ‘benami properties’ of ED officials and BJP leaders.
Somaiya dismissed these allegations outright and said he has no connection with Navlani or any of the other persons mentioned by Raut. He also denied acting as an ‘agent’ for the ED, but vowed to continue his crusade against the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
‘Some ED officials will go to jail’
Sanjay Raut said that the Mumbai Police was probing extortion and corruption charges against four ED officials.
“The Mumbai Police are capable of that. And mark my words … some ED officials will go to jail,” the Rajya Sabha MP claimed.
Raut, however, did not reveal the names or designations of these ED officials.
Raut said that on February 28, he had submitted a detailed 13-page complaint to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is awaiting action on these charges.
The Sena leader also said he has also given around 50 names to the ED-ITD with thousands of documentary evidence, but till date no action has been taken on it.
Close aides of Sena leaders raided
The Sena’s outbursts came after the central probe agencies carried out raids at the premises of several close aides of party leaders.
“The maximum activities of the ED and the Income Tax Department are in Maharashtra and West Bengal. Today, there are a series of ITD raids being carried out in Maharashtra,” said Shiv Sena chief spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut.
“The ED-ITD have carried out 14 operations in Maharashtra and 7 in West Bengal with the sole design of instilling fear and toppling the governments in the two states,” he added.
Raut alleged that these raids were a tactics to destabilise the MVA government in the state. “Why are central agencies targeting a selected few from states like West Bengal and Maharashtra … don’t they get anybody else from other states,” he asked.
‘Central agencies publicity machinery of BJP’
Maharashtra cabinet minister and Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray, meanwhile, alleged that the central agencies had become the “publicity machinery” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
He said Maharashtra will not bow down to these pressure tactics by the BJP.
“The Central agencies have been misused in the past too. It happened in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and now it’s happening in Maharashtra. The Central agencies have in a way become publicity machinery of the BJP. Maharashtra will not bow down,” Aditya Thackeray said.
(With inputs from agencies)
Shiv Sena, which heads the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government in Maharashtra also hit out at activist Kirit Somaiya and charged him with acting as ED’s ‘collection agent’.
The Sena leader alleged that one Jitendra Chandralal Navlani was acting as the custodian of the ill-gotten wealth and handling the ‘benami properties’ of ED officials and BJP leaders.
Somaiya dismissed these allegations outright and said he has no connection with Navlani or any of the other persons mentioned by Raut. He also denied acting as an ‘agent’ for the ED, but vowed to continue his crusade against the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
‘Some ED officials will go to jail’
Sanjay Raut said that the Mumbai Police was probing extortion and corruption charges against four ED officials.
“The Mumbai Police are capable of that. And mark my words … some ED officials will go to jail,” the Rajya Sabha MP claimed.
Raut, however, did not reveal the names or designations of these ED officials.
Raut said that on February 28, he had submitted a detailed 13-page complaint to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is awaiting action on these charges.
The Sena leader also said he has also given around 50 names to the ED-ITD with thousands of documentary evidence, but till date no action has been taken on it.
Close aides of Sena leaders raided
The Sena’s outbursts came after the central probe agencies carried out raids at the premises of several close aides of party leaders.
“The maximum activities of the ED and the Income Tax Department are in Maharashtra and West Bengal. Today, there are a series of ITD raids being carried out in Maharashtra,” said Shiv Sena chief spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut.
“The ED-ITD have carried out 14 operations in Maharashtra and 7 in West Bengal with the sole design of instilling fear and toppling the governments in the two states,” he added.
Raut alleged that these raids were a tactics to destabilise the MVA government in the state. “Why are central agencies targeting a selected few from states like West Bengal and Maharashtra … don’t they get anybody else from other states,” he asked.
‘Central agencies publicity machinery of BJP’
Maharashtra cabinet minister and Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray, meanwhile, alleged that the central agencies had become the “publicity machinery” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
He said Maharashtra will not bow down to these pressure tactics by the BJP.
“The Central agencies have been misused in the past too. It happened in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and now it’s happening in Maharashtra. The Central agencies have in a way become publicity machinery of the BJP. Maharashtra will not bow down,” Aditya Thackeray said.
(With inputs from agencies)
