The premises of Congress leader Baba Siddique were raided by the ED in a money laundering probe related to an alleged Rs. 400-crore slum rehabilitation irregularities case.
Officials said the searches were conducted at about seven locations in the Maharashtra capital, including premises of Siddique, a real estate firm and a builder connected to him.
Siddique, a former minister in Maharashtra government, is known for his links with Bollywood celebrities and got superstars Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan into a much talked about patch-up hug in 2013, after years of reported frosty relations.
Some front companies allegedly “connected to” Siddique were also searched by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) teams, which swooped down of these premises early morning.
The ED, they said, has registered a criminal case against Siddique and about a dozen others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) recently, based on a local police FIR.
The Bandra police had registered an FIR in 2014, on directions of a local court, to probe alleged financial irregularities in a slum rehabilitation project launched in suburban Bandra, to which Siddique is alleged to have been involved.
Siddique has been the Chairman of the Mumbai board of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) between 2000-2004.
A complainant had approached a local court in 2012 stating that the flats allotted in the residential buildings constructed after demolishing the slum in the Bandra area were granted on the basis of alleged fake documents and had other irregularities.
The agency also suspects use of certain ‘front’ or ‘benami’ companies in committing the alleged irregularities and hence the raids are being conducted to gather more evidence, they said.
The ex-minister had denied allegations made against him in this case in the past.
Siddique has been a three-time Congress MLA, Minister of State for food and Civil Supplies (during 2004-08) in the Maharashtra government and has also served as a Municipal Corporator.
His grand Iftaar parties are attended by a host of Bollywood celebrities. His 2013 party is remembered for actors Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan embracing each other, hinting a thaw in their ties.
However, the Congress accused the BJP of pursuing “vendetta politics” over it.
State Congress unit spokesperson Sachin Sawant alleged the ruling BJP is using central investigation agencies to “intimidate” Opposition parties.
“Police had submitted a B summary to the Bandra court last year itself stating the complaints received against Siddique and 157 others were false. It is surprising that the state police has found nothing against him and the Enforcement Directorate is conducting raids,” said Sawant.
Terming the ED action a “clear-cut example of vendetta politics,” Sawant said the BJP government is using investigation agencies to “intimidate” the Opposition, but such tactics will yield no results.
In an apparent reference to the searches conducted by the CBI at the homes and offices of former finance minister P Chidambaram’s son Karti recently in four cities in a tax probe case, Sawant said, “A pattern can be seen in which the opposition is being harassed and intimidated through the ED or the CBI. The government is trying all it can to damage the Oppositions image and suppress its voice, he alleged. All this will yield no results,” he said.
