MSCB case: Rohit Pawar to appear before ED for questioning, Sharad Pawar faction NCP workers stage protest

Rohit Pawar. File Pic

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar's grandnephew Rohit Pawar is all set to appear at the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) office on Wednesday as he was summoned by the central agency for questioning in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) case, reported news agency ANI.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up at the ED office in Mumbai as the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP staged a protest outside the probe agency office on Wednesday, reported ANI.

Earlier on Tuesday, Rohit Pawar said that he will be cooperating with the central investigating agency. He urged everyone to keep supporting Sharad Pawar in case the ED takes any wrong action against him.

"After going to the office on January 24 for inquiry, I will cooperate fully with the authorities as I have cooperated earlier. But looking at the current politics of revenge, as there is a lot of pressure from the government on all the systems, under this pressure, if ED takes any wrong action against me, no one should be afraid, instead, everyone should stand united with the respected Pawar sahib and every person who preserves the self-respect of Maharashtra and believes in the Constitution," he said in a post on 'X'.

On Tuesday, a poster surfaced on social media asking people to turn up at the ED office in huge numbers, reported ANI.

"I will come wherever you call me. I am the heir of a storm. I will blow you apart," the poster read along with a picture of the NCP MLA.

The MSCB case relates to the alleged fraudulent disbursal of loans amounting to 25,000 crores. The MSCB case triggered the filing of a PIL Petition in the Bombay High Court by four persons. The PIL shed light on the alleged modus operandi of the fraud.

In the petition, it was alleged that some sugar mills defaulted on the loans, which were given without due diligence. Those sugar mills were attached by the MSC banks and auctioned to various office bearers of the bank and politicians. Acting on the PIL the Bombay High Court ordered the registration of a case, reported ANI.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW), which is under the Maharashtra government, investigated the MSCB case. When EOW filed a closure report in 2020 in the Bombay Session Court, ED filed an intervention petition against the closure report and started an investigation.

(With inputs from ANI)