Chhagan Bhujba was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate late on Monday night in a case of alleged money laundering connected to Maharashtra Sadan scam.
Highlights
- Ex Maharashtra Minister alleges 'revenge politics' by BJP-led government
- Chhagan Bhujbal to be in Enforcement Directorate custody till March 17
- Bhujbal has been arrested in a case of alleged money laundering
, who had arrived smiling at the Mumbai office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday morning, wept in court on Tuesday, alleging he was a victim of revenge politics by the BJP-led state government.
Mr Bhujbal, former Deputy Chief Minister and senior NCP leader, was arrested by the ED on Monday in a case of alleged money laundering connected to what is called the Maharashtra Sadan scam. Officials said Mr Bhujbal was arrested as he was uncooperative during
11 hours of interrogation.
On Tuesday, a Mumbai court said Mr Bhujbal would stay in the ED's custody till Thursday.
"There is nothing against me. I have answered all their questions. I have served for 50 years. But they have arrested me," said Mr Bhujbal, who had told NDTV just two weeks ago that the Maharashtra government "will not dare to arrest me."
He also said, weeping, "Is it a crime to do good work? I feel hurt. We have built one of the best state sadans in Delhi."
Mr Bhujbal is being investigated for alleged corruption in contracts awarded for the Maharashtra Sadan or state government guest house in Delhi when he was the Public Works Department or PWD minister in the previous NCP-Congress government in the state.
The ED claims that part of the money allegedly received as kickbacks was parked abroad and routed into India through various shell companies located across the country.
In court today, Mr Bhujbal, 68, denied any wrongdoing, saying contracts allotted during his tenure as minister were vetted by the then Chief Minister and that he had no connections with the companies that were given contracts for the sadan.
"With land of 33 crores we got work worth 100 crore done. This is a cooked up story. This is all lies. They are trapping us and settling political scores," the former deputy Chief Minister said.
Chhagan Bhujbal has been a member of the Shiv Sena and the Congress before he became a key leader of the Nationalist Congress Party or NCP. His party has said it backs him completely.