The Income Tax department on Tuesday conducted raids at the offices and residences of close aides of Maharashtra ministers and Shiv Sena leaders Aaditya Thackeray and Anil Parab. The searches are being conducted in Mumbai and Pune, ANI reported.
Before this, the IT department had conducted raids at the offices and premises of various BMC contactors and Shiv Sena leaders.
Aaditya Thackeray, who is the son of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, said that the central agencies have become the propaganda machinery of the BJP.
“Such attacks on Maharashtra have happened in the past and are happening now. Central agencies have been misused in this manner in the past. It happened in Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and now if elections are to be held in Maharashtra, it is happening here too,” he said in a statement.
These central agencies have in a way become the propaganda machinery of the BJP itself, but we will not bow down. Maharashtra will not bow down,” he added.
Reacting to the raids, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut alleged that it was an attempt to pressurise and destablise the three-party led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state.
“Why are central agencies targetting a selected few from states like West Bengal and Maharashtra…don’t they get anybody else from other states, it’s a tactic to pressurise and destablise the MVA government,” said Raut.
The Sena leader further said that the Mumbai police will begin the investigation of criminal syndicate and extortion racket by a nexus of ED officials.
“Mark my words, some of these ED officers will go to jail too,” Raut said at a press conference.
