Maharashtra: ED raids NCP MLA Hassan Mushrif, relatives’ properties

NCP leader Hasan Mushrif talks to the media after the Enforcement Directorate raided his home and factories in Kolhapur, in Mumbai, Wednesday. Pic/PTI

The Enforcement Directorate conducted multiple raids on the residence and factory premises of ex-minister and the Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) Kagal MLA, Hassan Mushrif and his relatives, on Wednesday. The leader faces a probe for alleged money laundering through shell companies.

Three years ago, the Income Tax Department had searched Mushrif's properties. The case the ED is handling is related to purchase of a sugar factory in Kolhapur district. The agency searched the residences and factory premises in Pune and Kagal.

Also Read: ED action against NCP leader Hasan Mushrif is pressure politics: Sanjay Raut

The development elicited a furious reaction from the Opposition, as Mushrif accused the government of pursuing an agenda in targetting him, and his party and MVA colleagues. Before Mushrif, NCP's Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik, the Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut and Anil Parab faced action by the agency with a political purpose, said MVA leaders. Mushrif's supporters created a ruckus in the streets of Kagal and came face-to-face with the police.

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) former MP Kirit Somaiya, who has followed up the issue with the agencies, claimed that a Congress leader and ex-minister from Mumbai, Aslam Sheikh, will be the next to face a similar action. The NCP's senior leaders met in Mumbai on Wednesday for a predefined agenda, but also took up Mushrif's cause. Opposition leader Ajit Pawar saw a particular design behind the action and demanded that the harassment be stopped with immediate effect.