MUMBAI : Ahead of Lok Sabha election, the ED on Friday attached assets valued at Rs 50.20 crore of Kannad cooperative sugar mill owned by NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, grand nephew of former union minister Sharad Pawar.
Kannad cooperative sugar mill, located in Sambhaji Nagar, is owned by Baramati Agro Ltd and the NCP MLA (SP) owns the latter. ED in its note stated they attached the 161 acre premises of Kannad sugar mill under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA), alleging that the sugar mill was illegally sold by Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank (MSCB) in 2002 by devaluing its assets and premises cost.
Reacting to the ED actions, Pawar revealed that he read ED’s social media post and remarked, “ED’s action against my company, so should I join the BJP now?” He pointed out that due to the pressure of central agencies, people who were ready to surrender and had no spine had already left the party and joined the BJP.
“But BJP should remember, I will never succumb and surrender because I have self-respect. I will continue to fight and approach the court against the illegal actions of ED against my firm. The people who are working in our sugar mill should not be worried at all. The question is why action was only taken against me? This is gross misuse of power by the BJP,” alleged Rohit.
The attached assets are 161.30 acres of land, plant and machinery and building of the sugar unit in Kannad, Aurangabad. ED initiated investigations on the basis of an FIR registered by Economic Offence Wing, under sections of IPC.