Mumbai, Oct 7 (IANS): In a multi-district operation, the Income Tax Department on Thursday swooped on various premises including factories, offices and residences linked with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, his family members and business associates.

The action came a day after the Nationalist Congress Party national spokesperson and Minister Nawab Malik had targetted the Narcotics Control Bureau for allegedly including some Bharatiya Janata Party activists in its raids on an alleged rave party aboard a luxury cruise ship on October 2, in which Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was arrested.

The targets of the IT Department were the Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills, Daund Sugar Mills, Pushpadanteshwar Sugar Mills, Ambalika Sugar Mills, and offices or residences of Ajit Pawar's three sisters in Pune and Kolhapur.

Confirming the raids, Pawar said the IT Department has raided a few firms connected with him and it is their right but denied any wrongdoings.

"I am not sure whether they were conducted for political purposes or for getting more information. We have been paying all taxes promptly," Pawar told media persons.

Pawar, the nephew of NCP President Sharad Pawar, also expressed "pain" at the manner in which his sisters are being targeted by the IT Department, and said that the motive behind the action is still not clear.

"My sisters have been raided, one in Kolhapur and two in Pune. It they are targeted because they are related to me, then the people of the state must consider the levels to which the central agencies are being misused to target us," he said.