New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday (July 31, 2022) conducted a search at Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's residence in Mumbai in connection with a money laundering case. The action follows multiple summons issued by the law enforcement agency against Raut, the latest being on July 27. The Rajya Sabha MP was summoned for questioning by the ED in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the re-development of Mumbai's Patra 'chawl' and related transactions involving his wife and 'associates'. 


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The senior Shiv Sena leader, who is in the Uddhav Thackeray camp, has, however, denied any wrongdoing and alleged that he was being targeted due to political vendetta.




Will not surrender, leave Shiv Sena: Sanjay Raut after ED searches his home


Meanwhile, Sanjay Raut took to his official Twitter account after ED officials searched his residence and said that Maharashtra and Shiv Sena "will continue to fight".


"Even if I die, I will not surrender," Raut wrote in Marathi and added that he will not leave Shiv Sena.



"I have nothing to do with any scam. I am saying this by taking the oath of Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray," Raut reiterated.



 


The development comes amid a rebellion in the Shiv Sena, with a tussle over the party symbol and the control of the organisation between Uddhav Thackeray and current Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.


Why is ED questioning Sanjay Raut?


The Rajya Sabha MP was questioned in the case on July 1, when he had spent about 10 hours with the investigating officer during which his statement was recorded under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).


Earlier in April, the ED had provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 11.15 crore of Raut's wife Varsha Raut, and two of his associates as part of its probe. 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 Private Limited, at Palghar, Saphale (a town in Palghar) and Padgha (in Thane district).


The properties also include a flat in Mumbai suburb Dadar held by Varsha Raut and eight plots at the Kihim beach in Alibaug jointly held by Varsha Raut and Swapna Patkar, the wife of Sujit Patkar, a "close associate" of Sanjay Raut, the ED had said.


The agency reportedly wants to question Sanjay Raut to know about his "business and other links" with Pravin Raut and Patkar and also about the property deals involving his wife.


Pravin Raut was arrested by the ED in a probe linked to a Rs 1,034-crore alleged land scam related to the re-development of the Patra "chawl" in Mumbai's Goregaon area. He is currently in judicial custody.


(With agency inputs)