Mumbai, September 30, 2026: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has opened a T-1 intelligence investigation into the financial affairs of Maratha leaders linked to the community’s reservation agitation and close associates of activist Manoj Jarange Patil. The move follows allegations of disproportionate assets, benami properties and financial transactions worth around Rs 200 crore levelled by Jarange’s former colleague Ajay Baraskar and other leaders from the Opposition camp. The FPJ was the first to report on the Income Tax (I-T) scrutiny of Jarange’s associates and complaints received by the ED alleging disproportionate assets.

ED Probes Post-Agitation Transactions

According to the details available with the FPJ, the ED officials are probing transactions largely related to the period after the Maratha reservation agitation gained momentum. In 2023, Jarange Patil commenced his first agitation demanding reservation for members of the Maratha community under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.

A couple of years later, as allegations of financial irregularities began to emerge from within the Maratha community, the I-T Department and the ED initiated scrutiny based on complaints received by the central agencies.

As part of the process, the ED has classified the investigation process as a T-1 investigation (initial intelligence-gathering phase of financial trails). Under the T-1 process, the agency can receive and examine information from the public, government departments and other sources. At this stage, preliminary inputs, complaints and whistleblower information are collected, scrutinised and analysed. The agency then assesses whether the information warrants further examination or escalation into a formal investigation under applicable laws, including the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, or the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999.

Complainants Submit Property Details

As part of the T-1 probe under the PMLA, the agency recorded the statements of complainants Amol Sukhdev Khune and Ajay Maharaj Barskar at its Zone-II office on September 10, following summons, the complainants confirmed. They have alleged a substantial and unexplained surge in the assets and financial activities of certain individuals associated with the reservation movement. The allegations include the acquisition of benami properties, government contracts and tenders allegedly secured by associated firms, large-scale land purchases and election-related financial transactions, suspected links to sand-smuggling and transport activities, as well as questions over the source and movement of funds.

Barskar said he submitted sale deeds and agreements for agricultural land in Jalna district allegedly linked to a close associate of Jarange Patil. According to Barskar, the associate's financial condition was weak a few years ago but he subsequently acquired substantial land. The land parcels located at Rammahagaon Budruk in Ambad taluka of Jalna district measure 9.08 hectares in Gat No. 139 and 2.02 hectares in Gat No. 144. The transactions were registered on May 12. Barskar also said he provided the agency with several other crucial details and supporting documents concerning alleged financial transactions, property acquisitions and the assets of individuals linked to the reservation agitation, which the ED is examining as part of its preliminary intelligence inquiry.

ED Seeks Tax And Contract Records

According to officials, the agency has initiated inter-departmental outreach as part of the intelligence-gathering process to verify the allegations. It has contacted the Income Tax (I-T) Department to review PAN-linked asset profiles and income-tax returns, while also seeking records from state government departments on tenders and government contracts allegedly awarded to firms associated with some of the individuals under scrutiny. The records will help the agency compare the value and timing of the contracts with the financial profiles of the individuals and entities concerned, officials said.

The agency has also approached the Maharashtra Police for details relating to the individuals named in the complaints and cases registered against them at various police stations across Maharashtra, officials said. The ED is seeking details of the complaints, FIRs, property-related disputes, financial offences and other cases involving the persons under scrutiny to cross-check the allegations received in the T-1 inputs and assess whether any of the cases have a financial dimension relevant to the preliminary inquiry.

Government Contracts Under Scrutiny

Apart from land purchases, officials said another set of transactions is under scrutiny. The agency is examining government contracts worth about Rs 764 crore allegedly secured over three-and-a-half years by a private limited company incorporated in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in 2023 by a relative of an associate close to Jarange Patil. It is alleged that the contracts were awarded in connection with negotiations and understandings reached during the peak of the agitation to calm or withdraw the protest. The ED is reviewing contract records and related financial transactions to verify the source and movement of funds as part of its T-1 intelligence investigation to verify the allegations.

Sand-Mining Links Also Examined

The agency is also examining alleged links to illegal sand-mining operations and transport syndicates in Jalna and surrounding districts. The inquiry follows specific complaints that profits from unauthorised riverbed sand dredging were used to build financial liquidity and sustain agitation logistics. The complaints cited recent penalty recovery notices amounting to nearly Rs 4.90 crore issued by the revenue department against a close associate and core committee member of Jarange Patil.

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ED’s T-1 Probe Tracks Land Deals, Government Contracts In Maratha Agitation-Linked Financial Trail