Officials said the team seized Rs 11.5 lakh in cash during searches at the residence of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut in Mumbai’s Bhandup area.
Officials said the team seized Rs 11.5 lakh in cash during searches at the residence of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut in Mumbai’s Bhandup area.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut This information was given by officials in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of a ‘chawl’ in Mumbai, officials said.
Mr Raut, 60, was arrested after over six hours of questioning at the ED’s zonal office in South Mumbai’s Ballard Estate.
Officials claimed that he was detained at 12:05 am on Tuesday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as he was not cooperating with the investigation.
The Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP, led by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, will be produced in a special PMLA court in Mumbai later in the day, where the Enforcement Directorate will seek his custody.
A team from the agency had reached his residence in Mumbai’s Bhandup area on Sunday, where they searched, questioned Mr Raut and called him for questioning at the agency’s local office by evening. Officials said the team also seized Rs 11.5 lakh in cash during the search.
Before entering the ED office, Mr Raut told reporters that the federal agency’s action was aimed at trying to weaken the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra and a “false” case had been prepared against them.
The ED probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of Patra ‘chawl’ and financial property transactions relating to his wife and alleged associates.
ED temporarily attached assets in April As part of this investigation, worth over ₹11.15 crore related to his wife Varsha Raut and two of his associates.
The attached properties are in the form of land in Palghar, Safal (city in Palghar) and Padgha (in Thane district) with Praveen M. Raut, associate of Sanjay Raut and former director of Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd.
The ED had said that these properties include a flat of Varsha Raut in Dadar suburb of Mumbai and eight plots at Kihim Beach in Alibaug which are jointly owned by Varsha Raut and Swapna Patkar, wife of Sanjay Raut’s close aide Sujit Patkar.
The agency is understood to have questioned the Shiv Sena leader about his “business and other links” with Praveen Raut and Mr. Patkar, and also about property deals involving his wife.