Pankaj Bhujbal, son of senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) today, in a money laundering case registered against him and others in connection with the construction of the new Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi and in an another case. Officials said Pankaj reached the agency's office in the Ballard Estate area in Mumbai and investigators are recording his statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. ED had issued summons to Pankaj sometime back and it had also seized his passport then.<br/><br/>Pankaj has been named in the FIR filed by the agency, besides his father and former state PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal, other associates and entities and his nephew Samir, who was arrested by ED in the same case earlier this month. ED had twice conducted searches at nine premises, including properties and offices, belonging to Chhagan Bhujbal, his son Pankaj, nephew Samir and few others.<br/><br/>The agency's action came days after the Bombay High Court on January 28 sought progress reports from the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau and ED in four weeks on their probe against Bhujbal and his family members.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chaggan Bhujbal today refuted all charges against him, son Panjak and nephew Samir. Alleging that his family is being targeted, Bhujbal emphasized that all constructions undertaken by his company were legal. Speaking at a press conference in Mumbai today, Bhujbal accused BJP MP Kirit Sommaiya of making a mountain out of mole hill. He added that the Governor ordered the ED enquiry only on the allegations made by one man, Sommaiya. <br/><br/>He claimed that Chief Engineer of Public Works Department Ulhas Debadkar had submitted a report giving him a clean chit in the scam. However, later the present PWD Minister Chandrakant Patil denied it. Answering to the allegations that he had run away to America fearing ED action, Bhujbal said the invite for the programme in the US had come in November itself.

Pankaj Bhujbal, son of senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) today, in a money laundering case registered against him and others in connection with the construction of the new Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi and in an another case. Officials said Pankaj reached the agency's office in the Ballard Estate area in Mumbai and investigators are recording his statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. ED had issued summons to Pankaj sometime back and it had also seized his passport then.<br/><br/>Pankaj has been named in the FIR filed by the agency, besides his father and former state PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal, other associates and entities and his nephew Samir, who was arrested by ED in the same case earlier this month. ED had twice conducted searches at nine premises, including properties and offices, belonging to Chhagan Bhujbal, his son Pankaj, nephew Samir and few others.<br/><br/>The agency's action came days after the Bombay High Court on January 28 sought progress reports from the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau and ED in four weeks on their probe against Bhujbal and his family members.