The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday raided premises linked to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s brother-in-law Shridhar Madhav Patankar. The officials froze assets worth Rs 6.45 crore in connection to an alleged money laundering case, reported PTI.

The properties attached include 11 residential flats in Thane, belonging to Shree Saibaba Grihanirmiti Private Limited, owned by Patankar, reported NDTV.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut told reporters on Tuesday that the Enforcement Directorate has been taking such actions in states where the Bharatiya Janata Party is not in power, reported ANI.

The Maharashtra government is a coalition of the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.

National Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar alleged that central agencies are being misused for “political interests”, reported ANI.

“Till a few years ago most people didn’t know about Enforcement Directorate, but today it’s being misused so much that even people in villages know about it.”

The ruling coalition of the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra has long been accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled central government of targeting its leaders.

Earlier this month, the Income Tax Department had conducted raids in Mumbai and Pune at offices and homes of three aides of Maharashtra ministers Aaditya Thackeray and Anil Parab.

Maharashtra Minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik was arrested on February 23 in connection with an alleged money-laundering case involving fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.

On February 15, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut had alleged that the Centre was trying to topple the Maharashtra government by using central agencies to target its leaders. A week before that, Raut had alleged that he had been threatened with jail time on money- laundering charges for refusing to help “certain people” topple the Maharashtra government.