Called again on Feb 1: NCP's Rohit Pawar after spending 11 hrs at ED office

NCP MLA Rohit Pawar, grand nephew of party supremo Sharad Pawar, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate here on Wednesday for questioning in connection with a probe into the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam, and left after more than 11 hours.

The MLA, who left the ED office in South Mumbai around 10 pm, told reporters that he was cooperating with the agency which has called him again for questioning on February 1.

Earlier, NCP MP Supriya Sule and other party leaders accompanied the 38-year-old legislator as he arrived at the central agency's office at Ballard Estate around 10.30 am.

Before going to the probe agency's office, Rohit Pawar went to the NCP office's located nearby and met Sharad Pawar, touched his feet, and also interacted with other party leaders.

He also visited the Vidhan Bhavan and paid tributes at the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and a plaque of the Indian Constitution.

Before Rohit Pawar entered the ED office, Sule handed him over a copy of the Indian Constitution.

She hugged him and he touched her feet before entering the probe agency's office. Sule was also present when Rohit Pawar stepped out of the ED office late at night, and greeted party workers.

He later headed for the NCP office where Sharad Pawar was present.

"I have cooperated with the investigation, and will continue to do so. I have been called again on February 1," the MLA told reporters.

In a veiled dig at his uncle and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, he said some people "ran away to be in power."

Sharad pawar was fighting for the "self-respect of the state and Marathi people," Rohit added. Hundreds of NCP workers, who have come here from across the state, gathered at the party office in South Mumbai. They raised slogans in support of Rohit Pawar and staged a protest against the ED.

"The officers are doing their job, whatever documents they have demanded, we have given to them. I will appear before them and whatever information they are asking I will give them," the NCP MLA from Karjat Jamkhed had said earlier in the day before entering the ED office.

The Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank money laundering case stems from an August 2019 FIR of the Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing.

The ED conducted searches on January 5 at the premises of Baramati Agro, a company owned by Rohit Pawar, and some linked entities in Baramati, Pune, Aurangabad and some other locations.

The case was filed after the Bombay High Court issued an order to investigate the allegations of sale of sugar factories in the Maharashtra cooperative sector through alleged fraudulent means and at throwaway prices.