ED names businessman, ex-SDO in resort chargesheet, not former Maharashtra minister Anil Parab

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has submitted a chargesheet naming businessman Sadanand Kadam, Jayram Deshpande, former sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Dapoli, and four others in the Sai Resort case.
There is no mention of Anil Parab, a trusted confidante of Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, whom the ED has been describing as the man behind the illegalities.
ED sources said they are continuing the investigation and may file a supplementary chargesheet. Former minister Parab has been saying he had nothing to do with the land or resort.
Earlier this year, the ED had submitted a chargesheet against a company linked to NCP honcho Ajit Pawar and his wife Sunetra in the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank (MSCB) scam. It did not name the couple as accused in the chargesheet. "The investigation into specific roles and activities of various other persons suspected to be involved in the offence of money laundering is likely to take more time," the chargesheet said.
While seeking custody of Kadam on March 11, the ED had told a special court that Parab had sold the resort, which violates CRZ norms, to Kadam on paper to conceal illegalities (see box). The ED had also alleged that Kadam pressured the state revenue and gram panchayat officials on behalf of Parab and got required permission for change of land use from agricultural to commercial, facilitating construction of the resort.
The chargesheet, also naming Sudhir Shantaram Pardule, Vinod Dipolkar, Suresh Shankar Tupe and Anant Koli, was submitted before the court registry on Saturday. The ED alleged that Deshpande had changed the land use despite concrete knowledge that the land came under coastal regulation zone (CRZ)-III. Arrested in March, the bail pleas of both accused are pending before the special PMLA court.
The ED claimed that Parab acquired illegal permission from the revenue department for construction of two ground-plus-one bungalows on land falling under no-development zone in Ratnagiri district's Dapoli, and later, illegally built Sai Resort NX having ground-plus-two floors. "Parab, with the deliberate intention to hide his identity as owner (land), obtained the permission in the name of the earlier owner, namely Vibhas Sathe, by forging his signature on the application," said an ED press release.
The ED has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 10.2 crore, including a plot in Dapoli valued at Rs 2.7 crore and Sai Resort, constructed on land valued at nearly Rs 7.5 crore.