Former PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Tuesday pleaded innocence, claiming that he had not done anything wrong and he was being framed as part of a conspiracy.
Denying the ED’s charge that he was not co-operating with the investigators, an emotional Bhujbal said: “I have not done anything wrong. I have cooperated. I have been into social service for the past 50 years. When some questions were put to me (by ED), I genuinely said that I did not know, but still I was arrested”.
Bhujbal also claimed that he did not grant the contract in question and merely followed the directions of then Chief Minister (late) Vilasrao Deshmukh. “CM Vilasrao Deshmukh told me to take meetings and I followed that. I did not grant contract,” he said.
Bhujbal also claimed that some disgruntled employees of the Mumbai Education Trust (MET), a trust run by him, had cooked up the story against him.