Maharashtra political crisis: Anil Parab tied up with ED queries on day Shiv Sena needs him most

MUMBAI: On a day the ruling Shiv Sena plunged into a political crisis amid defection fears, key party strategist Anil Parab spent Tuesday answering ED questions.
This time, after a third summons, he did not ask for exemption and decided to record his statement. From 11.30am to 11pm, Parab was at the zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Ballard Pier. He was called for questioning again on Wednesday.
It has been seen in the past that the ED proceeds aggressively after summoning a person three times.
There was political turmoil in the state but Parab was cut off from everything, including his mobile phone, while the questioning was under way.
Parab is a close aide of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. He was a key person handling party affairs during the Rajya Sabha and legislative council elections this month.
He is also handling the responsibility of planning the party strategy for the upcoming BMC election.
When the first summons was served by the ED, Parab had asked for an exemption stating that he was on a religious tour outside the city.
The second time he asked for exemption, he cited his engagement in the scheduled legislative council election on Monday.
Subsequently, the ED issued him the third summons for Tuesday.
For many months now Parab has been target of public grilling by the BJP, chiefly by former MP Kirit Somaiya, who made various allegations against him.
BJP politicians had complained to various state and central government authorities about irregularities in the construction of a resort in Dapoli, Ratnagiri district, that had belonged to Parab. Based on these complaints, the ministry of environment, forests and climate change at the Centre filed a complaint against Parab before a magistrate's court in Dapoli for violation of environment protection rules.
The complaint is pending before the court. Based on it, the ED registered the money laundering case against Parab last month and raided his premises. It also raide his friends.
According to the complaint, Parab purchased an acre of agricultural land in picturesque Dapoli in 2017 for Rs 1 crore and the sale deed was executed in 2019. Sai Resort was constructed on the plot and Parab sold it to a close friend, Sadanand Kadam, for Rs 1.1 crore.
It is alleged that the resort was constructed in violation of environmental rules and that Rs 6 crore unaccounted cash was spent on the construction.