Trouble mounts for Bhujbal: ED files chargesheet against NCP leader in Maharashtra sadan case

Mumbai: Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday filed its first chargesheet in the Rs 870 crore Maharashtra Sadan scam and related money laundering cases in which veteran NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, his son Pankaj and nephew Samir have been named. [caption id=“attachment_2703986” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal. PTI[/caption] ED officials said the 11,150-page prosecution complaint, also called chargesheet in police parlance, was filed before the Registrar of City Civil and Sessions court here. “The accused persons named in the criminal complaint include Chhagan Bhujbal, Samir Bhujbal, Pankaj Bhujbal, corporates like D B Realty, Balwa group of companies, Neelkamal Realtors and Builders Private Limited, Neelkamal central apartment LLP and Kakade Infrastructure. “The other individuals named in the complaint are Vinod Goenka, Asif Balwa, Sanjay Kakade and others,” the agency said in a statement. Chhagan Bhujbal is also a former deputy chief minister and an ex-PWD minister. ED officals said about 30 witnesses have also been named in the chargesheet, which has been filed by furnishing documentary evidence and questioning of the accused in the case till now. “Details of attachments made under PMLA laws in the case have been furnished in the chargesheet,” they said. The chargesheet has been filed on the basis of two PMLA FIRs filed by the agency which includes cases to probe the RTO office building and other infrastructure projects. The ED took cognisance of ACB FIRs to register its money laundering cases last year. Bhujbal, along with his ex-MP nephew Samir, have been arrested in the case by the ED and they are at present in jail. “Further identification of money trail and the assets generated out of the proceeds of crime is in progress. If required supplementary chargesheet/s will be filed in due course of time,” it said. The agency has filed two FIRs against Bhujbal, his family members and others under anti-money laundering laws, based on Mumbai Polices’ ACB FIRs, to probe alleged irregularities in the construction of Delhi-based state guest house Maharashtra Sadan and the Kalina land grabbing case. The Bombay High Court, in December, 2014, had constituted a Special Investigation Team comprising the ED and the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to conduct the inquiry against the politician and others. The ACB complaint names Pankaj and Samir and they had been booked under IPC Sections related to cheating, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and relevant provisions of Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act. It has attached assets worth an estimated Rs 330 crore in the case till now. The new Maharashtra Sadan in national capital Delhi was built at a cost of Rs 100 crore when Congress-NCP coalition was in power in Maharashtra.