Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut was arrested by ED in a money laundering case after conducting a nine-hour search at his Bhandup residence in Mumbai. During the raid, Rs 11.5 lakh in cash was seized
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut. PTI
Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who was arrested early this morning by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of Patra ‘chawl’ in Mumbai, will be produced before a special session court. The probe agency will seek custody of Raut in the court today.
After his arrest, Raut was taken for medical tests. He will then be produced before a special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Raut was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case after conducting a nine-hour search at his Bhandup residence in Mumbai. During the searches Rs 11.5 lakh in cash was seized, officials of the probe agency said.
He was detained by the ED officials on Sunday and was arrested after over six hours of questioning at the probe agency’s zonal office in south Mumbai’s Ballard Estate shortly after Sunday midnight.
ED officials said that Raut was taken into custody around 12:05 am on Monday under the PMLA as he was not cooperating in the probe.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena workers staged protests against the arrest of Raut. The Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP’s brother Sunil Raut, who is an MLA, said Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of Sena stands firmly behind the Raut family.
“The Shiv Sena and Uddhav ji stand solidly behind us. Our legal fight (over Sanjay Raut’s arrest) has begun,” the Shiv Sena MLA from Vikhroli was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Before entering the ED office on Sunday, Raut told reporters that the probe agency’s action was aimed at trying to weaken the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra and that a “false” case was prepared against him.
The ED probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of Patra ‘chawl’ and related financial property transactions involving his wife and alleged associates.
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In April, the ED provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 11.15 crore belonging to his wife Varsha Raut and two of his associates as part of this investigation.
The attached properties are in the form of land held by Pravin M Raut, Sanjay Raut’s aide and a former director of Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd, at Palghar, Saphale (town in Palghar) and Padgha (in Thane district).
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These assets also include a flat in Mumbai’s suburb Dadar held by Varsha Raut and eight plots at Kihim beach in Alibaug jointly held by Varsha Raut and Swapna Patkar, wife of Sujit Patkar, a “close associate” of Sanjay Raut, the ED had said.
The agency is understood to have questioned the Sena leader about his “business and other links” with Pravin Raut and Patkar and also about the property deals involving his wife.
With inputs from PTI
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