Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has refuted all claims by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), saying that he was not connected to the Patra Chawl land scam case. He also said that the raids conducted by the ED on his properties this morning were part of vendetta politics and had no concrete basis. Tweeting this morning in Marathi, Raut said, “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. I will continue to fight for Shiv Sena.”
Furthermore, Raut attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre for framing him with false evidence and levying false charges against him. He said that such actions will not scare him and that he will support Shiv Sena. He also said that no matter what, he would not surrender to such threats until he was dead.
A team of ED conducted searches at Sanjay Raut’s residence this morning for his alleged connection to Patra Chawl money laundering case. ED’s action comes after the probe agency had summoned the Shiv Sena leader several times for the same case. He was questioned once on July 1 but failed to respond to the summons thereafter. ED had last summoned Raut on July 27.
The investigation against Raut was launched in connection with the re-development of Mumbai’s Patra Chawl. In April, the ED said that Raut and his family had immovable properties worth Rs 11.15 crore, which include a flat at Dadar, held by Sanjay Raut’s wife Varsha. The case also extends to eight land parcels at Kihim near Alibag that are held jointly by Raut’s wife and Swapna Patkar, wife of Sujit Patkar, a close associate of the Rauts.
