The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 9 raided the premises of MLA Ravindra Waikar who is from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) faction in connection with an alleged money laundering case linked to irregularities in construction of a luxury hotel in Mumbai’s Jogeshwari area, sources said.
The ED teams raided seven locations in Mumbai including properties belonging to Mr. Waikar and some of his business partners.
Mr. Waikar (64) is an MLA from the Jogeshwari East Assembly constituency.
In November last year, the ED had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against Mr. Waikar allegedly defrauded the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation of ₹500 crore by obtaining permission to build a five-star hotel on a plot reserved for a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation playground.
The FIR that was lodged against the Sena (UBT) leader by the economic offences wing of the Mumbai police alleged that this deal caused a huge loss to the BMC.
Reacting to the ED raids against Mr. Waikar, CM Eknath Shinde, who heads the rival Shiv Sena faction, denied that they were being conducted out of any political malice or vendetta.
“If he [Waikar] has nothing to hide, there is no cause for fear then,” Mr. Shinde said.
The Jogeshwari MLA, one of the handful of legislators left in the Thackeray camp, is considered a closed aide of Mr. Thackeray.
