Pune Police raid consultancy linked to NCP

Mumbai: In a significant development, Pune Police conducted a search at the office of Design Box, a political consultancy firm, on Tuesday evening-just two days ahead of voting for the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad civic polls.

While allies in the state government, the NCP and the BJP are contesting against each other in the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad civic elections. The Pune Crime Branch action has drawn attention as Design Box, run by Naresh Arora, has been working with the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit) and had managed the party's campaign for the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections.

According to sources, Crime Branch officials visited Design Box's Wakadewadi office and inspected certain documents. Arora was not present at the time. No one was detained, and the police did not specify the nature of the action. Officials said they had acted on a complaint but left after finding no substance in it, without disclosing further details.


"All the required information was provided during the process, and full cooperation was extended to the officials. No objectionable matter or any irregularity was found in the course of this process," Pawar said.