NCP chief Sharad Pawar lambasts Centre; says ED, CBI, NCB, are being misused

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said the Centre is misusing some institutions like CBI, Income Tax, ED, NCB for politics to target the Opposition, days after the I-T department raided entities linked to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's relatives.

The NCP president while addressing a press conference in Mumbai said personnel of the agencies have been conducting raids for the sixth day on Wednesday, which is very unusual.

Pawar also said that the state agencies are doing an honest and straightforward job, while the NCB is doing high-profile arrests just to show the Centre that it is doing something.

He also added that the central probe agencies are misused against political opponents to defame them as he claimed that the probe agencies are targeting the Maha Vikas Aghadi partners – the Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress – in Maharashtra.

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He also said the Mumbai Police’s Anti-Narcotics Cell has done a better job than the NCB.

The NCP leader’s statements come in the wake of Income Tax raids at residences and offices of relatives of Ajit Pawar, a senior NCP leader, in the state.

Meanwhile, senior NCP leader and former state home minister Anil Deshmukh is also facing a probe by central agencies on multiple charges. On which, Pawar said that the five times raids were conducted at Anil Deshmukh's home, it was a record of sorts for the agencies.

Apart from the recent drugs bust onboard a cruise liner off the Mumbai coast, that led to the arrest of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, the NCB last year investigated a drug case linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and several other matters related to narcotics involving high-profile people.

(With inputs from agency)  

• CBI
• Centre
• NCB
• NCP chief Sharad Pawar
• lambasts
• misused
• Enforcement Directorate