After raids, ED detains lawyer who targeted Devendra Fadnavis

Nagpur: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) early on Thursday raided the homes of well-known lawyer Satish Uke and his brother Pradeep Uke at Parvati Nagar. Later, the ED detained Satish Uke and whisked him for questioning.

A team of ED along with a posse of the CRPF and local police, landed at the Uke residence around 5 a.m., and launched the search operations.

Uke is famed for running a campaign against Bharatiya Janata Party's Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis, and filing at least two election petitions against him.

Earlier, he represented a RTI activist Mohnish Jabalpure who had lodged two complaints with the ED in August-September 2019, demanding a probe against Fadnavis for various alleged actions favouring his wife Amruta, working for the private sector entity, Axis Bank.

Among other things, Jabalpure had accused Fadnavis of allegedly misusing his position as the (then) chief minister to transfer the salary accounts of various government departments from public sector banks to the Axis Bank ostensibly to favour his wife and the Axis Bank.

"Its nearly 3 years now since my complaints, but the ED has not taken any action in the matter, although I have provided all evidence to them," Jabalpure said.

Prior to that, in 2018, Uke had filed a plea in the Bombay High Court seeking compensation for the family of the CBI Judge B. H. Loya who died in Nagpur on December 1, 2014.

Subsequently, Uke was arrested for certain alleged offences committed over 17 years ago.

Only last week, Uke was engaged as the lawyer of Congress state President Nana Patole in a Rs 500-crore defamation case filed against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla in the sensational phone-tapping case.

However, it is not immediately clear for which particular case Uke is being probed by the central agency, though there's speculation over a property transaction that is reportedly under the ED scanner.

Shiv Sena Chief Spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut slammed the ED raids at Uke's home and said since he is the lawyer of the state Congress chief, "it wouldn't be surprising if Patole is also raided".

Raut - who met Uke last week here reiterated how the Centre and BJP are blatantly misusing official machineries especially in Maharashtra, in their attempts to topple the Maha Vikas Aghadi government with the help of the central probe agencies.

"A strange situation is witnessed in which those who provide information and evidence are being punished while the guilty are getting away scot-freea In my complaint, nobody from the PMO has taken any action despite furnishing evidence against the ED," Raut told media-persons in New Delhi.