ED attaches Rs 110-cr properties linked to Bhujbal

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday attached two properties worth Rs 110 crore linked to former Maharashtra deputy chief minister and senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal.

Sources said the action was taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The properties, located in Bandra and Santacruz areas of Mumbai’s western suburbs, are in the name of Pravesh Construction, a company run by the Bhujbals.

The leader said the properties had no links with him. “These properties have no relations with me...and why the ED did this, I am not aware of,” Bhujbal told reporters in Nagpur, where the winter session of the Maharashtra Assembly is currently underway.

“I want a fair probe,” he said. Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Dr Kirit Somaiya, who has taken on the Bhujbal family, said the current attachment proceedings are under the old cases registered by the ED and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

“There are several properties linked to the Bhujbal family; they have made investments abroad,” Dr Somaiya said. The ED registered two Enforcement Case Investigation Reports (ECIRs) in June against Chhagan Bhujbal.