Who is Shridhar Madhav Patankar, Uddhav Thackeray's Kin Under ED Scanner for Money Laundering

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday provisionally attached immovable properties belonging to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s brother-in-law Shridhar Madhav Patankar in a money laundering case. The ED has attached immovable properties, worth Rs 6.45 crore, in the case of M/s Pushpak Bullion, one of the group companies of Pushpak Group.

The attachment includes 11 residential flats in the Neelambari project in Thane belonging to Shree Saibaba Grihanirmiti Private Limited, which owned and controlled by Patankar. The ED is currently investigating further in the matter.

Past Controversy

It isn’t for the first time that the younger brother of Rashmi Thackeray has been involved in a controversy. Earlier, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya had raised questions about Patankar’s investments and businesses. Patankar has been involved in the real estate business.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, the Patankars have maintained a low profile despite being one of the most influential political families in Maharashtra.

Prominent Family

Shridhar Madhav Patankar’s father Madhav Patankar runs a family business of chemical production and passed away in June 2020.

Patankars originally hails from Dombivli in Thane district, but they now reside close to Uddhav Thackeray’s residence in Kalanagar at Bandra east.

Political Slugfest

The Shiv Sena has defended Patankar and said, “Shridhar Madhav Patankar is our family member, his relation is not limited to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray. ED has been taking tremendous actions in states where BJP is not in power.”

“Maharashtra’s public knows well about the Thackeray family… this is a dangerous start of dictatorship. Winning in 4 states doesn’t make you the ruler of the country. We’re ready to go into jails, but we’re also ready to fight for freedom for this country’s democracy,” Raut added.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has also said that the investigating agency was being misused.

“Central agencies being misused for political interests. Till a few years ago, most people didn’t know about ED, but today it’s being misused so much that even people in villages know about it,” Pawar said, according to ANI.

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