A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the allegations of extortion raised against some Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers by Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil said on Tuesday.

The SIT has been formed under an officer named Veeresh Prabhu. We have given the SIT the time required to probe the matter, he told reporters. Prabhu is the Additional Commissioner (Crime).

Raut had alleged in a press conference last month that some Enforcement Directorate officers were acting as an ATM for the BJP. He had also said the Mumbai Police were probing extortion charges against four officers of the Central agency and some of them will go to jail. The Sena MP didn't reveal any names while making the allegations.

In the last few years, some ED officials and agents have been involved in extortion, threatening builders and corporates. I have passed on this information to the prime minister, he had said. The Shiv Sena heads the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of which NCP and Congress are constituents.

Notably, the announcement of the SIT came against the backdrop of reports that Shiv Sena leadership felt that the NCP was going "soft" on the BJP.