9 firms linked to Bhujbals under Enforcement Directorate radar

The Enforcement Directorate has kept some of the corporates that have invested money in the companies promoted by former Maharashtra PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal on its radar. According to sources, the ED is likely to summon directors of nine corporates in connection with the case. The ED will also video record questioning of Sameer Bhujbal, who is in the custody of the agency, so that there are no allegations of high-handedness by the officers during interrogation. According to the ED, it has found after the scrutiny of bank account statements of various firms controlled by the Bhujbals that they had received funds from nine corporates on the basis of “unregistered agreements”. The ED has claimed that the Bhujbals received a total of Rs 141.75 crore from these nine corporates. The list of corporates includes investments made by DB Realty Ltd. (Rs 5 crore), Balwa group of companies (Rs 20 crore), Kakde infrastructure Pvt Ltd (Rs 10 crore), Aakruti group (Rs 10 crore), Micro Technologies Pvt Ltd (Rs 35 crore) Kumaon Engineering Pvt Ltd (Rs 40 crore), Universal Development Corp (Rs 8.25 crore), Rajesh Mistry (Rs 9 crore), Royal Enterprises (Rs 4.5 crore). “The directors of these firms will also be questioned in relation with the investments made by them in the companies of Bhujbals and why these investments were not made through registered agreements, which is mandatory. Apart from them, some persons close to Sameer Bhujbal will also be questioned,” the source said.

Sameer was arrested by the ED at 1 am on Tuesday after he was questioned on Monday in the alleged case of money laundering. According to the ED, Sameer had not joined their investigation despite being sent three summons. Similarly, Chhagan Bhujbal’s son Pankaj has also been sent two summons so far, but he too has not acquiesced. Therefore, the ED conducted searches on the premises related to the Bhujbals. Sameer was brought to the ED office for questioning and later placed under arrest. “We did not intend to arrest him. He did not give satisfactory answers. So, we had to arrest him,” he said.