ACB files DA case against Bhujbal and 11 others

The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) has filed a fresh case against former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and 11 others, including his four family members, for allegedly amassing Rs 203 crore disproportionate to known sources of his income, a police official said on Friday.

The FIR was filed by ACB on Thursday, in which apart from Bhujbal, his wife Meena, son Pankaj, daughter-in-law Vishakha and nephew Sameer, have been named as accused, the official said.

Chartered accountants Sunil Naik and Chandrashekar Sarda, hawala operator Suresh Jajodia, directors of Bhujbal’s companies Pravinkumar Jain and Jagdishprasad Purohit, financial advisor Sanjeev Jain, and chief managing director of Snehal Cooperative Ltd Kapil Puri have been named as other accused in the FIR, he said.

While investigating the alleged offences of cheating, forgery and corruption against Chhagan Bhujbal in two cases – Central Library land scam and Maharashtra Sadan scam – the ACB further found “ill-gotten” wealth, after which the fresh FIR was filed.

In the FIR, the anti-graft agency said the amassed assets were beyond the known income sources. 

The official said ACB had carried out searches at Chhagan Bhujbal’s houses and offices and recovered documents showing properties at several places in the city, satellite cities of Mumbai as well as at Pune, Lonavala and Nashik. 

A panel of doctors from government-run JJ Hospital on Friday submitted a report to the Bombay high court, describing the condition of former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal as “stable”. Bhujbal, arrested on money-laundering charge by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), has sought bail on medical grounds. Justice Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi adjourned till June 8 the hearing on bail petition after Bhujbal’s lawyer Amit Desai sought time to seek the opinion of a private doctor on the report submitted by the nine-member doctors’ panel. Last week, the HC had asked for opinion of JJ Hospital doctors on Bhujbal’s health. The panel in its report has said though Bhujbal suffers from several ailments, his condition is stable after receiving medication.