IT raids at premises of close aides of Shiv Sena leaders Aaditya Thackeray, Anil Parab

New Delhi, Mar 8: The Income Tax Department on Tuesday conducted raids at the office and residence of close aides of Shiv Sena leaders and Maharashtra ministers Aaditya Thackeray and Anil Parab, sources informed news agency ANI.

Prior to this raid, the IT Dept had carried out raids at the offices and premises of various BMC contractors and Shiv Sena leaders.

Search is underway at 20 premises in Mumbai and Pune, the sources said. Reacting to the raids, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut accused the central government of trying to pressurise and destabalise the coalition government in Maharashtra.

"Why're central agencies targetting a selected few from states like West Bengal and Maharashtra...don't they get anybody else from other states, it's a tactic to pressurise and destablise MVA govt," he alleged. Party leader Aditya Thackeray had also alleged that the central agencies have become the "publicity machinery" of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but "the state will not bow down".

The Income Tax department had also carried out searches at the premises of Shiv Sena corporator and Standing Committee chairperson of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Yashwant Jadhav.

Raut further said that some ED officials have links with extortion racket and the Mumbai Police will investigate the case. "Mumbai police will begin the investigation of criminal syndicate and extortion racket by a nexus of ED officials. Mark my words, some of these ED officers will go to jail too," the Shiv Sena leader said.