Mumbai (Maharashtra): State Transport Minister Anil Parab, who is on the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) radar, has been summoned to appear before it on the 28th and record his reply in connection with a money laundering case. He has been asked to appear before the law enforcement agency on Tuesday (Sept 28) at 11 am. Earlier, Parab was summoned on August 31 but had failed to turn up, citing public commitments.
What exactly is the issue?
The Enforcement Directorate is currently probing three separate complaints against Minister Parab. These include, Rs100 crore recovery case of Mumbai Police and Sachin Waze's mention of him from NIA custody, as well as a complaint lodged by an officer in the Transport Department's financial malpractice case and a complaint lodged by former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, pertaining to property and illegal licences.
Kirit Somaiya had levelled serious allegations against Parab and the latter had even sent a notice to the former on September 14, demanding an apology within 72 hours. However, after the deadline had expired, the Shiv Sena leader filed a defamation suit against Somaiya in the High Court.
Earlier, Vaze had opened up Pandora's Box by accusing former home minister Anil Deshmukh, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Anil Parab of pressuring him to extort money from the contractors of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), and illegal tobacco factories and bars in the city.
Claims made by Vaze in the letter
"In July-August 2020, I was called by Minister Anil Parab at his official bungalow... At the meeting, Parab asked me to look into the complaint under preliminary inquiry and bring the trustees of the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) to him for negotiations about the inquiry. He also insisted to initiate primary talks to get Rs50 crore from SBUT in order to close the said enquiry. I had expressed my inability to do any such thing as I do not know anybody from SBUT and also I did not have any control over the inquiry," Vaze had mentioned this in his letter to the NIA.
He further claimed that Parab called him again in January 2021 and asked him to look into an inquiry against some contractors listed in the BMC and collect Rs2 crore each from them.
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