The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned state transport minister Anil Parab of the Shiv Sena, possibly in a money laundering case connected with former state home minister Anil Deshmukh. The ED asked Parab to appear before it to record his statement. Speaking to the media, Parab said he received the notice on Sunday evening. “I do not know the notice is related to which case, as it does not mention any details. It only says that I will have to be present in their office on August 31 at 11am,” said Parab.
While people close to Parab said they had anticipated the move by the ED after the arrest of union minister Narayan Rane by the state police in Ratnagiri recently “for making derogatory remarks” against chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, Parab only said he expected the notice. “But I will not make any comment at this moment. We will examine it and will respond to the notice legally,” the minister said.
A video of Parab had gone viral a few days ago where he was heard issuing instructions for Rane’s arrest. Parab is a close adviser of the chief minister and he will be playing a crucial role in the upcoming election to the BMC, where his party has been the ruling party for over two decades and where its rival, the BJP, would like to topple it. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut tweeted that the ED issued the notice after Rane’s arrest, which was expected after the Ratnagiri incident.
Rane was arrested after his remark about slapping Thackeray for his ignorance of the year of India’s independence. The same day, Parab’s video ordering police officers to arrest Rane without delay had gone viral. Nitesh Rane, BJP MLA and Narayan Rane’s son, reacting to the ED notice to Parab said: “It is not a love letter, unless it has some evidence, the ED will not send a notice to anyone.”
