The ED had conducted searches on at least nine premises, including properties and offices, belonging to the senior Bhujbal, Pankaj, nephew Samir and few others.
'We pressurised him (to accept the deputy chief ministership).' 'Being out of power would have made him weaker.'
According to an ED official, the arrest of the former Public Works Department minister was affected under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after he allegedly refused to cooperate during the questioning.
Chhagan Bhujbal, Jayant Patil (both from the NCP), Balasaheb Thorat and Nitin Raut (both from the Congress), Eknath Shinde and Subhash Desai (both from the Sena) took oath as ministers along with Thackeray.
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday questioned Pankaj Bhujbal, son of senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, in a money laundering case registered against him and others in connection with the construction of the new Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi and an another case.
Sameer Bhujbal was arrested after over six hours of questioning under the provision of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act at the agency's office in Ballard Tiar here. He will be produced in court on Tuesday, official sources said.
The former PWD minister reacted to the development saying that he was being targeted by the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government in an unprecedented manner.
The ACB case against Bhujbal and the other accused is that they caused huge losses to state government by leasing out a plot to a private developer at a very low rate for which the accused persons received huge kickbacks.
The politician who has come a long way, from being a one-time vegetable vendor to one of the most powerful politicians in the state, is in big trouble today, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
The Enforcement Directorate had last week arrested Chhagan Bhujbal's associate and chartered accountant Sunil Naik in connection with the case.
An Enforcement Directorate official said that the searches would continue through the day.
he ED had sought seven more days of custody of Bhujbal but judge P R Bhavke of the special court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act cases sent the senior Nationalist Congress Party leader in judicial custody till March 31, saying 'sufficient ground was not made out for further remand'.
Among the BJP rebels, a notable figure is Gopal Shetty, a two-time MLA and former Lok Sabha member from Mumbai. He has filed his nomination as an independent candidate against the party's official nominee, Sanjay Upadhyay, in Mumbai's Borivali assembly constituency.
The court asked the jail authorities to give proper medical help to Bhujbal in jail and take him to nearest government hospital whenever he requires attention.
The Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau, probing the Maharashtra Sadan scam, on Wednesday filed its charge sheet against senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal.
"Like I have grown old, you have also not got younger. The hair on your bald pate will not come back and your suffocation within NCP won't stop," Thackeray said in an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana.
'The BJP, already falling short of a strong OBC leader from Maharashtra, will be more than happy to welcome Chhagan Bhujbal in its fold.'
A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court on Wednesday issued a non-bailable warrant against Pankaj Bhujbal.
"They both were produced in the court and were granted bail on a surety of Rs 50,000 each," special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said.
The court directed the jail authorities to provide Bhujbal with prompt medical care in case of any emergency.
Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal has been named the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister.
The agency, which placed the senior Nationalist Congress Party leader under arrest last night after a marathon grilling session on Monday, will seek his custody for further interrogation.
NCP leaders including, Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal and Ajit Pawar were present at the Bada Qabrastan during the last rites of Baba Siddique.
In mounting trouble for former Maharashtra PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal, the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday registered two Economic Case Information Reports against him and others under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Tuesday alleged that he was being targeted by the Bharatiya Janata Party government as he belonged to a backward community and because some people were trying to settle scores with him.
"This is vendetta politics by BJP. There was no need to arrest him as he was cooperating with the ED," NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said.
The article had criticised the BJP for forming an alliance with the NCP.
The Special Investigating Team has been waiting to question him in connection with the fake stamps racket.
Breaking his silence over ongoing probe by the anti-corruption bureau against his party colleague Chhagan Bhujbal, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday came out in strong defence of the former deputy chief minister.
'Sameer and Chhagan Bhujbal's arrest is directly the impact of the PIL filed by the AAP in the Bombay high court.'
Bhujbal has reportedly lost 10 kilograms since his arrest in March. He is seen with a full grown white beard and a very frail look in the picture.
Special Judge of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act court, PR Bhavke heard the arguments of lawyers of Bhujbal and Enforcement Directorate before reserving the order.
Former Mumbai police chief Mendoca says problem arose when Bhujbal desired postings of officers of 'your choice to particular positions in violation of the existing norms'.
A local Mumbai court on Tuesday remanded the senior Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Maharashtra Public Works Department Minister Chhagan Bhujbal in the custody of Enforcement Directorate till March 17, a day after he was arrested in a money laundering case in connection with the Maharashtra Sadan scam.
'When Mr Bhujbal was with the ED officers throughout the day and cooperating with them, what was the need to arrest him?'
But last weekend when Bhujbal appeared in a Mumbai court to withdraw a 1997 defamation case against the Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray with Uddhav Thackeray keeping him company in front of cameras it ruffled many a feather despite both Bhujbal and NCP playing down the development seen by many as pregnant with possibilities of realignments in the state.
At the state level, Pawar appealed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the quota dispute.
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