Former home minister Anil Deshmukh left for Delhi to seek legal opinion and file a petition in the Supreme Court against ongoing ED probe in connection with money laundering case following corruption charges made by former Mumbai Police Chief Param Bir Singh.
Meanwhile, the NCP, which is one of the constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, on Friday alleged that there was a conspiracy to malign the image of the party and its leaders.
NCP's chief spokesperson and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik made the statement a day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sealed a sugar mill allegedly linked to state Deputy Chief Minister and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar.
"The manner in which reports are planted against Ajit Pawar and his family are wrong," Malik said.
"The ED has sealed the sugar mill and taking further legal action. Ajit Pawar and his family members are not involved in any illegal activities," he claimed.
The ED had said on Thursday that the sugar mill - Jarandeshwar Sahkari Sakhar Karkhana, located at Chimangaon-Koregaon in Satara district- worth over Rs 65 crore has been attached under the anti-money laundering law in connection with the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam. It had also said that a company linked to Ajit Pawar and his wife was involved in the case.
Earlier, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil had demanded a CBI inquiry against Ajit Pawar and another state minister into the allegations levelled against them by dismissed Mumbai cop Sachin Waze.
The ED had last week conducted raids at the premises of former Maharashtra home minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh in connection with the money laundering case against him. The agency had also arrested two aides of Deshmukh in that connection.
Deshmukh, who had resigned from his post in April following the allegations, has denied any wrongdoing.
The Sharad Pawar-led NCP shares power with the Shiv Sena and the Congress in the MVA government that was formed after the 2019 Assembly polls.
(With inputs from agencies)
