He will be produced in court today Sunil Raut told the media at the time of his arrest.
Raut’s wife Rainmother and MLA brother Sunil Raut He was at home during the search. As Raut left for the ED office for questioning at around 4 pm, a worried soldier and Sunil waited outside the ED office building in south Mumbai. Sources said that Raut was questioned by the Additional Director of ED, who arrived from Delhi late last night, after which he was arrested. Raut said central agencies were trying to put pressure on him, but he would not leave his party.
“They (ED) wanted to arrest me and I am ready for it,” Raut told media persons waiting outside the ED office building. He further said that government agencies are trying to put pressure on him, but he will not leave his party. Even as state NCP and Congress leaders criticized the raids, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Sunday that if Raut has not done anything wrong, he should not fear ED action against him. On Raut’s statement that he would never leave Shiv Sena, Shinde said, “Who has invited him to join any other party?”
Raut, the most vocal Shiv Sena The leader had recently alleged that the Center was misusing its investigative agencies to target political opponents. In a series of tweets issued throughout the day, Raut denied any connection to the Patra Chawl redevelopment scam and asserted that the ED’s action was motivated by political vendetta.
ED officials started searching Raut’s bungalow at around 7 am on Sunday. As news of the raid spread, hundreds of Shiv Sena workers gathered outside his residence and raised slogans in his support. During the search, Raut shook his hand several times. Heavy police arrangements were deployed and senior police officers reached the spot to control the crowd.
Around 4 pm, the ED asked Raut to accompany him to his zonal office at Ballard Estate. He left for the ED office with a trademark Shiv Sena saffron scarf around his neck and walked away from the sunroof of his SUV, waving at supporters.
Heavy police arrangements and barricades were put up outside the ED office buildings. Sunil and some of his friends were allowed to stand near the building, which is guarded by CISF personnel.
The case involves alleged payments to businessman and Raut’s close aide Praveen Raut, whom the ED suspects is a front for politicians. In 2007, Guru Ashish Construction, a subsidiary of HDIL, took over the redevelopment of Patra Chawl in Goregaon (W) after entering into an agreement with MHADA, the land owner and tenants. Praveen and HDIL promoter Rakesh Wadhawan and son Sarang were directors in Guru Ashish Construction. Praveen reportedly received Rs 50 crore after exiting the company and Rs 45 crore from a land deal from HDIL group in Palghar. In February, the ED arrested Praveen and filed a charge sheet stating that he “received Rs 112 crore in multiple installments from HDIL between 2008 and 2010 and failed to show valid reasons”.
In April, the ED had temporarily attached a flat in Dadar owned by Raut’s wife Varsha and eight plots jointly owned by him and the businessman in Alibaug. Sujit PatkariThe total value of wife Swapna, separated in Alibaug, is Rs 11 crore. It is alleged that Praveen had earned money from Patra Chawl redevelopment fraud and diverted it through Patkar to buy land in Alibaug in the name of Varsha and Swapna.
Recently, during a search of Patkar’s premises, the ED found documents of Alibaug land.
Swapna had earlier told the ED that she did not have any ownership rights, though her name was used and the pieces of land belonged to Sanjay Raut. Last week, she had complained to the ED and the police that she was receiving threats and was asked to withdraw her statement against Raut.
The ED had earlier recorded Raut’s statement for 10 hours on July 1 in the money laundering case. The agency questioned Sujit and Swapna separately about the Alibaug land purchase and called Raut again for statement on July 20. But Raut could not appear. The ED had sought exemption till August 7 citing election related work. Raut did not return and requested exemption till August 7 due to the ongoing session of Parliament, but the ED refused.
watch Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut arrested in money laundering case after hours-long raid by ED