New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Friday conducted raids at at least six locations connected to Baramati Agro — the agro cooperative run by Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar’s grandnephew and Karjat-Jamkhed MLA Rohit Pawar.
The raids were conducted in connection with its money laundering investigation involving the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) and targeted sites in Baramati, Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad), and Amravati, media reports said. The allegations stem from an August 2019 FIR.
Baramati Agro was founded by Sharad Pawar’s older brother and Rohit’s grandfather Appasaheb. It is primarily involved in the manufacturing of animal and poultry feed, sugar and ethanol, the cogeneration of power, and agri-commodities trading.
Its registered office is located in Baramati — the Pawar family bastion.
When the NCP split in June last year, the 38-year-old Rohit, the CEO of Baramati Agro, stayed with his granduncle instead of joining the ruling Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government with uncle Ajit Pawar, who is now a Deputy Chief Minister.
Rohit is currently abroad on a family vacation. ThePrint has reached him via WhatsApp for a comment, and a response is awaited.
Rohit’s party colleagues have called the raids a “political vendetta” against the leader. In a post on X, Clyde Crasto, national spokesperson of the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP, said: “So it is clear now that Rohit Pawar’s ‘Sangharsh Yatra’ has ‘Hit a Nerve’ and made the BJP insecure. But it will not deter Rohit Pawar or stop him in his tracks. He will come out stronger. (the) Justice system is supreme in our country and the truth will prevail.”
He was referring to the Yuva Sangharsh Yatra that Rohit had undertaken in December.
Also Read: Pawar versus Pawar — how young gun Rohit is taking on uncle Ajit as battle for NCP legacy continues
The case
The 2019 FIR was filed after the Bombay High Court ordered an investigation into allegations that bank officials were involved in selling Maharashtra’s cooperative sugar factories at throwaway prices. The court order came on the back of a Public Interest Litigation that pegged the alleged scam at Rs 25,000 crore.
In October 2020, the Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing filed a closure report in the case, saying there was no fraud. The ED opposed this report.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray and consisting of the undivided Shiv Sena, the undivided NCP, and the Congress was in power then.
In November 2022 — just over four months after the MVA government fell and Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis’s Mahayuti government came to power — the EOW once again sought permission to investigate companies linked to Rohit.
The EOW alleged that the companies had acquired dying sugar mills through suspicious transactions.
In April 2023, the ED filed a chargesheet in the case. However, it did not name Ajit Pawar, whom it had previously accused of wrongdoing in the case.
The ED is looking into Baramati Agro’s 2012 purchase of a sick unit, Kannada SSK in Aurangabad, for Rs 50 crore via an auction initiated by the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank.
Allegations against the company include diversion of funds, and its bank accounts are being scrutinised.
Under the scanner
This isn’t the first time Baramati Agro has faced action from authorities. Last September, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) issued a notice to Rohit citing a violation of pollution control norms and asking him to close down part of the firm.
Two months before this, the Bombay High Court stayed proceedings launched against the company based on an FIR filed by BJP’s Ram Shinde, whom Rohit defeated in the 2019 assembly polls. This FIR, registered under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code, alleged that the company had begun sugarcane crushing in violation of a government order that season.
The Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP has put its weight behind Rohit in the light of the raids, emphasising the Opposition’s oft-repeated allegation that the Modi government uses central agencies to undermine rivals.
“This is the result of standing with Pawar saheb by showing loyalty and courage. It feels bad that our own ‘homebreakers’ are involved in this. But I believe Rohit will not succumb to these pressure tactics and instead will come out stronger,” MLA Jitendra Awhad, who had a disagreement with Rohit over a controversial social media post earlier this week, said.
. @RRPSpeaks यांच्या बारामती ॲग्रो या कंपनीवर ED ची धाड पडल्याची बातमी समजली.पवार साहेबांच्या सोबत निष्ठेने आणि ताकदीने उभे राहण्याची हे त्याचं फळ आहे.
वाईट याचेच वाटते की,यात आपलेच "घरभेदी" सहकारी सामील आहेत.परंतु मला विश्वास आहे की,रोहित या सर्व दबावतंत्राला बळी तर पडणारच… pic.twitter.com/FAYVYKvUCt
— Dr.Jitendra Awhad (@Awhadspeaks) January 5, 2024
Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh urged Rohit to “fight on ”. “Rohit, today’s struggle becomes tomorrow’s strength,” he said.
रोहीत, आजचा संघर्ष उद्याचे सामर्थ्य तयार करत असतो. लढायचं – भिडायचं!#झुकेंगे_नहीं!@RRPSpeaks
— ANIL DESHMUKH (@AnilDeshmukhNCP) January 5, 2024
Although Rohit Pawar has made no official comment on the raids, he reacted to his colleagues’ posts using the emoji for “thank you”.
— Rohit Pawar (@RRPSpeaks) January 5, 2024
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
Also Read: Family, political style, strategy — why Sharad Pawar isn’t attacking rebels, unlike ally Thackeray