Uddhav Thackeray's party Shiv Sena said the move was politically motivated.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's brother-in-law found himself targeted by the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday with the agency freezing Rs 6.45 crore in his assets in a money laundering case, officials said.
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The move came two weeks after the Income Tax Department conducted a series of raids on people considered close to his son Aaditya Thackeray, a minister, and colleague Anil Parab prompting their party Shiv Sena to accuse the BJP at the centre of selectively targeting political opponents.
"The ED (Enforcement Directorate) is acting under political pressure. They are trying to make us bend through central agencies," Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut said on Monday.
"All states that don't have BJP governments are facing this. Yesterday, Mamata Banerjee's nephew was questioned by ED. This smacks of a demonic autocracy. Neither Bengal nor Maharashtra will bend," he added Monday.
Veteran politician and Uddhav Thackeray's ally from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Sharad Pawar echoed him. "This is the misuse of central agencies. This is political vendetta to target the government here. Five to ten years ago, no one even knew what the ED was. Now its ED, ED. The misuse of central agencies that we are seeing... let's see what happens," he said.
In a statement, the agency which probes financial crimes said it has issued a provisional order to "attach" 11 residential flats in Neelambari project, located in Thane near Mumbai, of Shree Saibaba Grihanirmiti Private Limited. Attaching a property means it cannot be transferred, converted or moved.
Shridhar Madhav Patankar, the brother of Mr Thackeray's wife Rashmi, "owns and controls" Shree Saibaba Grihanirmiti Private Limited, it alleged. The agency claimed funds that were allegedly siphoned off in a money laundering case being investigated against a company named Pushpak Bullion were "parked" in the real estate projects of Shree Saibaba Grihanirmiti Pvt. Ltd.
The ED, which reports to the BJP government at the centre, has been markedly active along with other central investigating agencies in chasing targets in Maharashtra in recent months. The government has denied charges of any bias.
Late last month, Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik was arrested after questioning by the agency in connection with a money laundering case linked to fugitive terrorist Dawood Ibrahim. He will be in judicial custody till at least April 4.
Before him, former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, also a leader of Sharad Pawar's NCP, was arrested by the ED in November. He is currently in judicial custody.
At a news conference last month, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut had said the BJP would be using investigating agencies to try and topple the Maharashtra government and target its leaders and their families, including Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The allegations followed raids on people linked to him.
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