Mumbai: Police have imposed prohibitory orders outside the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) office here Ballard Pier of South Mumbai ahead of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s planned visit to the agency office Friday, while the opposition party claimed police have started detaining its workers. A number of roads leading to the ED office have been closed for the public.
The former Union Minister, named in a money-laundering case by the ED in connection with a scam at Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB), has said he will visit the probe agency’s office at even though it has not summoned him yet.
“Honourable @PawarSpeaks Saheb will visit ED office at 2 pm. Workers will be present in big number in his support. But the police started detaining workers since yesterday (Thursday) night. We are people who believe in law and order. This suppression is not right. Condemnation!” NCP chief spokesperson Nawab Malik tweeted.
NCP workers had staged protests in here and other parts of Maharashtra when the ED named Pawar in the case earlier this week. Anticipating similar protests Friday, orders prohibiting movement of groups of people under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure have been imposed outside the ED office, a police official said Thursday night.
Sharad Pawar has appealed to party workers not to gather outside the ED office.
The NCP’s state office is situated near the ED premises and there is a possibility that a large number of party supporters may gather in the area, said a party spokesperson.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil and party general secretary Jitendra Awhad reached Sharad Pawar’s residence here Friday morning ahead of the veteran leader’s visit to the ED office.
The NCP patriarch has already said he would ‘voluntarily’ visit the ED office and cooperate with the probe agency given his faith in the Constitution.
The veteran leader however, has been maintaining he was not associated with the bank in any capacity and questioned the timing of the registration of the case which comes just weeks ahead of the October 21 Assembly polls in Maharashtra.
It should be mentioned here that the ED is planning not to allow Sharad Pawar to enter its office premises. The probe agency has said that since he has not been summoned, there is no reason why he should ‘voluntarily’ visit its office.
PTI