Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said Enforcement Directorate attaching immovable properties worth Rs 6.45 crore of a company owned by the brother-in-law of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, was a "dangerous start of dictatorship".
Raut took a swipe at the BJP-led central government saying that winning assembly elections in four states does not the party ruler of the country.
Addressing a press conference here, Sanjay Raut said, "Maharashtra's public knows well about the Thackeray family... this is a dangerous start of dictatorship. Winning in four states doesn't make you the ruler of the country. We're ready to go into jails but we're also ready to fight for freedom for this country's democracy."
The federal agency provisionally attached the immovable properties in the case of Pushpak Bullion, one of the Group companies of Pushpak Group. The said attachment includes 11 residential flats in the Neelambari project in Thane belonging to Shree Saibaba Grihanirmiti Pvt. Ltd (owned and controlled by Shridhar Madhav Patankar, brother-in-law of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray).
"Looks like ED has closed its office in other big states, like Gujarat. Everything is happening in Maharashtra. Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee is also being harassed. But neither Bengal will bow, nor Maharashtra will break," Raut stated.
Further, he said that the relation of Shridhar Madhav Patankar is not only limited to Maharashtra CM. "Shridhar Madhav Patankar is our family member, his relation is not limited to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray. ED has been taking tremendous actions in states where BJP is not in power," he added.
Meanwhile, NCP leader Sharad Pawar also said that the central agencies are being misused for political interests.
"Central agencies being misused for political interests. Till a few years ago most people didn't know about ED, but today it's being misused so much that even people in villages know about it," Pawar said.
Earlier, ED had recorded a money laundering case against Pushpak Bullion and group companies on March 06, 2017, under the provisions of PMLA for allegedly laundering money in the post-demonetisation period.
( With inputs from ANI )
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