GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 20th July. The Enforcement Directorate has issued new summons to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut to appear before it on Wednesday for questioning in a money laundering case involving alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of a Mumbai ‘chawl’ and related transactions involving his wife and ‘associates.’
The Rajya Sabha MP, who supports Uddhav Thackeray, has denied any wrongdoing and claims he is being targeted for political reasons.
Raut has been summoned to appear in person at the agency’s regional office in Mumbai.
On July 1, he was questioned in this case and spent nearly 10 hours with the investigating officer, during which his statement was recorded under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
“I gave full cooperation and answered all their questions. I will appear again if they call me,” Raut had told journalists while leaving.
He described himself as “fearless and undaunted” as he has “never done anything wrong in life.”
The development comes amid a Shiv Sena rebellion, with former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on one side and current chief minister Eknath Shinde on the other, over the party’s symbol and control of the organisation.
As part of this investigation, the ED provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 11.15 crore belonging to Raut’s wife Varsha Raut and two of his associates in April.
Pravin M Raut, Sanjay Raut’s assistant and a former director of Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd, owns land in Palghar, Saphale (a town in Palghar), and Padgha (in Thane district).
These properties also include a flat in Mumbai’s Dadar owned by Varsha Raut and eight plots at Kihim beach in Alibaug owned jointly by Varsha Raut and Swapna Patkar, wife of Sujit Patkar, a “close associate” of Sanjay Raut, according to the ED.
The agency wants to question Sanjay Raut about his “business and other links” with Pravin Raut and Patkar, as well as about his wife’s property deals.
The ED said after arresting Pravin Raut in February that he appears to be “acting as a front” or in collusion with some powerful person.
According to the agency, it was found during the investigation that he made payments to certain “politically exposed persons.”
The agency claimed that, in addition to the registered value, “cash” payments were made to the sellers in the Alibaug land deal.
The ED arrested Pravin Raut in connection with an investigation into an alleged Rs 1,034 crore land scam involving the redevelopment of the Patra ‘chawl’ in Mumbai’s Goregaon area. He is currently in judicial custody.
The ED previously stated that Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd was involved in the redevelopment of the ‘chawl,’ which had 672 tenants in tenements on 47 acres owned by the Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA).
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