Maharashtra transport minister and key Shiv Sena strategist Anil Parab on Wednesday returned to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Mumbai for the second round of questioning by the central probe agency. Parab is being grilled in connection with ED probe into the alleged money-laundering and possible coastal regulation zone (CRZ) violations linked to a piece of land at Dapoli in Ratnagiri district on which two resorts were built.
As he walked into south Mumbai office of ED on Wednesday, Parab reiterated that he didn’t own the two resorts. “I don’t own the resorts. I have made this clarification time and again,” Parab told reporters.
Parab, 57, a three-time legislator in the legislative council and a close confidant of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, was grilled for close to 11 hours on Tuesday. The Shiv Sena leader, who reached ED office at Ballard Estate around 11.30 am on Tuesday, left at 10.30 pm.
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On Wednesday, he reached the agency office at about 3.50 pm. The questioning is expected to continue till late evening.
Parab is the third minister in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government to face a probe by a central agency.
ED registered a case against Anil Parab under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act based on a complaint filed by an officer of the Union environment ministry on March 10, 2022, in the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class at Dapoli.
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The complainant, a scientist with the ministry, sought to prosecute Parab Sai Resort and Sea Conch Resort, both located at Murud in Dapoli tehsil, claiming that Parab violated CRZ norms by constructing the resorts in a no-development zone (CRZ-III) and the resort discharged polluting material in a sea stream leading to ecological damage.
On May 26, the agency raided seven premises, including the Sena minister’s private residence in Bandra, his official bungalow Ajinkyatara in south Mumbai, Sea Conch Resort at Dapoli, as well as the Pune residence of Vibhas Sathe, the man who allegedly sold the Dapoli plot to Parab.
Parab also denied owning the resorts at Dapoli when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya visited the coastal town in March and accused Parab of not complying with a Union environment ministry order earlier this year, which said the resorts should be demolished for violating provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.