The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday raided multiple locations in Maharashtra as part of a money-laundering probe against state transport minister Anil Parab and others linked to alleged irregularities in a land deal in the coastal Dapoli area of Ratnagiri district and other charges, officials said.

The federal probe agency has filed a fresh case against the minister and others under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), news agency PTI reported.

Accusing the BJP of misusing the central agencies, Shiv Sena's chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said their party and the state Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA- comprising the Sena, NCP and Congress) government stand with Transport Minister Parab.

"Such actions are being carried out to exact political revenge. You (BJP) have central agencies with you. If anyone thinks their political opponents will be destroyed by this, if anyone thinks that such acts will build pressure on the Shiv Sena or the Maha Vikas Aghadi, then it is wrong. Every action will only make our resolve stronger," the Rajya Sabha member said.

At least seven premises, including Parab’s official residence in Mumbai, linked premises in Dapoli and Pune are being searched by the agency with a security escort provided by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

It is understood that the minister was present at his residence during the raids. Parab (57), is a three-time Shiv Sena legislator in the Maharashtra legislative council, the upper house of the legislature, and is the state transport and parliamentary affairs minister.

He is facing multiple charges of alleged irregularities and corruption that are understood to have formed the basis of the latest Enforcement Directorate (ED) case.

The first charge pertains to allegations of purchase of a parcel of land in Dapoli by Parab sometime in 2017 for a consideration of Rs 1 crore and it was registered in 2019.

It is alleged that the land was subsequently sold to a Mumbai-based cable operator Sadanand Kadam in 2020 for a consideration of Rs 1.10 crore.

The Income Tax Department had made these allegations after it conducted raids in March against some people allegedly close to Parab like Kadam and deputy regional transport officer (RTO) Bajrang Kharmate.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement issued in March, without taking any names, that the construction of the resort started in 2017 and over Rs 6 crore was spent in cash on the construction of the resort.

"It transpires that the relevant facts about the construction of the resort were not intimated to the Registration authorities and accordingly, the stamp duty was paid only for the registration of the land on both the occasions i.e. in 2019 and in 2020,” it said.

The cost of construction of the same has not been accounted for either by the person searched (Kadam) or the politician (Parab) in their books of account, the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the administrative body for the tax department, had said.

Image courtesy: ANI