"Why Raid Same House 5 Times?" Sharad Pawar Alleges Misuse Of Agencies

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar today accused the BJP of misusing central agencies, citing the repeated raids on the house of former state minister and his party leader Anil Deshmukh. "Institutions are being misused. Be it CBI, Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax department or the anti-drugs agency Narcotics Control Bureau," Mr Pawar told reporters.

"Anil Deshmukh's house has been raided for the fifth time yesterday. I am surprised. What is the need of raiding the same house 5 times? The public also needs to understand this," said Mr Pawar, referring to the former home minister who stepped down in April after being accused of corruption by former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh. He is now facing investigation on multiple charges.  

Leaders of Maharashtra's ruling alliance -- of which Mr Pawar's party is a member -- has said the BJP is misusing the anti-drugs agency in the cruise ship case in which mega star Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan has been arrested.

Accusing the BJP of "maligning Maharashtra" Nawab Malik, a senior leader of Sharad Pawar's party and state minister, had questioned the drugs control agency's links with private investigator KP Gosavi -- seen in the viral selfie with Aryan Khan -- and BJP office-bearer Manish Bhanushali.

He had even tweeted a video of the two exiting a white car late on the night of October 3, when the raid on the cruise ship took place, and walking into the central drug agency's Mumbai office, and questioned why two outsiders were present during a raid by a central agency.

He also alleged a discrepancy in the statements of senior NCB officer Sameer Wankhede.

"Sameer Wankhede's statement where he said eight to 10 people have been arrested... while eight were arrested. Why was he not sure? Did they have an intention to frame two more?" he tweeted.

Speaking on the issue, Mr Pawar today said, "Nawab Malik gave a statement about an officer. The name of that officer is Wankhede".

There are "two agencies" -- one for the central government and one for the state government, Mr Pawar said, contending that the performance of the state agency was much better.

"We found out that the recovery of the central agency (seizures of drugs) is less than that of the state agency (ANC). It means to say that the state agency is working seriously… Our relation with the administration remains good whether in power or in opposition," he added.