The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials, accompanied by CISF officials, reached Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s residence in Bandup in eastern suburbs of Mumbai around 7 am on Sunday
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut. Twitter/@rautsanjay61
Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate has detained Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut after conducting raids at his Mumbai residence and other premises today.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials, accompanied by CISF officials, reached Raut’s residence in Bhandup in eastern suburbs of Mumbai on Sunday morning around 7. After a day-long search in connection with ‘Patra Chawl’ land scam case, he was taken by the officials along with them.
A heavy police deployment was there outside the residence of the Shiv Sena leader.
The ED raid on Sunday came after Raut skipped summons twice for questioning in the money-laundering case. The Shiv Sena spokesperson was summoned by the ED on 17 July after he skipped an earlier summon citing the ongoing Parliament session in Delhi.
During the raid, a large number of Shiv Sena workers congregated outside Raut’s house and staged protests against the ED’s action. They held saffron flags and banners in their hands and also raised slogans against the ED.
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Shortly after ED officials began searches, Raut on Sunday tweeted: “…False action, false evidence…I will not leave Shiv Sena…Even if I die, I will not surrender… I have nothing to do with any scam. I am saying this by taking the oath of Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray. Balasaheb taught us to fight and I will continue to fight for Shiv Sena.”
The probe agency wants to question the 60-year-old leader in connection to the redevelopment of the Patra chawl in Mumbai and related transactions that also involve his wife Varsha and his close aides.
Raut, who is considered to be one of the loyalists of Uddhav Thackeray, had denied any wrongdoing and alleged that he was being targeted due to political vendetta.
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He was questioned for about 10 hours on 1 July, during which his statement was recorded under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
In April, the ED provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 11.15 crore of Sanjay Raut’s wife Varsha Raut and two of his associates as part of this investigation. Eight land parcels in Alibaug and a flat in Mumbai’s Dadar suburb linked to him and his family were attached.
In a statement to the media in April, the fiery Shiv Sena leader said, “I’m not one to get scared. Seize my property, shoot me, or send me to jail, Sanjay Raut is Balasaheb Thackeray’s follower and a Shiv Sainik, he’ll fight and expose everyone. I’m not one to stay quiet, let them dance. The truth will prevail.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticised Raut for skipping the summons. “Why is he scared of Enforcement Directorate if he is innocent? He has all the time to give a press conference but no time to visit the probe agency office for questioning,” a report by NDTV quoted party MLA Ram Kadam as saying.
With inputs from agencies
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