Trouble mounts for Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik as a credit card registered under the name of a Pakistani national is recovered from the premises of the Shiv Sena legislator. The Pakistani credit card is registered on the address of Pratap Sarnaik.
Trouble mounts for Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik.
— News18 (@CNNnews18) December 12, 2020
Credit Card of Pakistan National recovered from Sarnaik’s residence
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The shocking revelation comes after weeks of being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate in a Monnet laundering case.
ED raids at Sarnaik’s premises in connection with a money laundering case
The Enforcement Directorate had last month raided the residences and official premises of the Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik. The search was conducted at 10 places across Mumbai and Thane with the links to the aforementioned Shiv Sena leader. The raids were carried out reportedly in connection with a money laundering case involving Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik.
Sarnaik, a reality sector baron, was once an auto-rickshaw driver
Pratap Sarnaik, the chairman of Vihang Group Of Companies, a major player in the real estate industry in Thane region, represents Ovala-Majiwada in the state assembly. He is also the spokesperson of Shiv Sena in Mira-Bhayander, a city in Thane district.
Sarnaik is also known for holding considerable clout in the Thane region and for his long rivalry with NCP’s Jitendra Awhad, who is the currently a cabinet minister in the Thackeray government. However, after Shiv Sena and NCP joined hands to form Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, Sarnaik and Awhad had come together and were recently seen in a joint press conference over a housing scheme launched by the NCP leader.
However, Sarnaik’s relative affluence and his growing stature in the Shiv Sena party is a recent phenomenon. According to a report published in the Indian Express, back in the 1980s, Sarnaik drove an autorickshaw and was struggling to make ends meet. Subsequently, he made a fortune by the reality sector boom that swept Mumbai and the adjoining regions in recent decades.
Pratap Sarnaik, a vocal critic of opposition parties and dissenting voices
Sarnaik had recently hogged the limelight after he had threatened to break actor Kangana Ranaut’s nose after she likened Mumbai to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir for allowing the streets of the city be defaced by Azadi graffiti.
Sarnaik has also been vocal against the opposition in Maharashtra. He had vigorously defended the allegations made against Maharashtra Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray and also asked for a drug probe against Kangana Ranaut for her earlier comment on rampancy of drug consumption in Bollywood. Sarnaik also brought in privilege motions against Kangana Ranaut and Arnab Goswami in the previous session of the Assembly.