MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who was arrested late on Sunday by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering probe, was on Monday remanded in the custody of the federal agency for three days.
MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who was arrested late on Sunday by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering probe, was on Monday remanded in the custody of the federal agency for three days.
MG Deshpande, the special Mumbai judge designated to hear cases registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), rejected ED’s request to give them his custody for eight days, observing that such a long custodial interrogation wasn’t necessary to probe the money trail linked to his wife Varsha, which the court said, can be probed through bank statements. Deshpande remanded Sanjay Raut in ED custody till August 4.
Sanjay Raut was arrested after being grilled for over eight hours at his Bhandup residence in connection with the money laundering case registered regarding the Patra Chawl re-development project. ED also seized ₹11.50 lakh from the house during a search. As Sanjay Raut was being taken to the special judge, Sanjay Raut said: “This is an attempt to finish us”.
In its request for the Shiv Sena leader’s custody, ED’s lawyer Hiten Venegaonkar said Sanjay Raut and his family members were direct beneficiaries of ₹1.06 crore of the ₹112 crore earned by Pravin Raut, a real estate developer and ex-director of Guruashish Construction, who was arrested on February 2.
“Pravin Raut was the front-man of Sanjay Raut,” Venegaonkar said, adding that the agency has traced the ₹1.06 crore received from Pravin Raut and asserted that the 10 land parcels were bought by Sanjay Raut’s wife Varsha at Kihim near Alibag in the name of their spouses and 60 to 70% of the price paid in cash.
Venegaonkar also alleged that Sanjay Raut received a monthly payment of ₹2 lakh from Pravin Raut, who also sponsored several foreign trips of the Shiv Sena leader and his family.
The ED lawyer added that Sanjay Raut tried to tamper with evidence and threatened key witnesses, but did not get into the specifics.
Senior advocate Ashok Mundargi, who represented the Rajya Sabha member, rebutted the ED allegations, claiming that Sanjay Raut was arrested due to political vendetta and that the allegations against the Shiv Sena leader were speculative in nature.
Mundargi also cited the MP’s key role in the recent crisis faced by the Shiv Sena to explain the ED charge that he hadn’t cooperated with the probe.
ED’s case is based on a first information report (FIR) registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police in 2018 against Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan, promoters of the real estate company Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), Guruashish Construction Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of HDIL that undertook the redevelopment of Patra Chawl in Goregaon and its director Pravin Raut among others.
The agency said that its probe has so far found that around ₹100 crore was transferred from HDIL to the account of Pravin Raut, who was arrested in the case on February 2.
This amount was further “diverted” by Pravin Raut, a close associate of the Sena MP, to various accounts of his associates, family members and business entities etc, the federal agency said. “In 2010, part of the proceeds of crime, ₹83 lakh, was received by Varsha Raut, wife of Sanjay Raut, directly/indirectly from Madhuri Raut, wife of Pravin Raut,” ED said in a statement earlier. “This amount was utilised by Varsha Raut for purchase of flat at Dadar East,” it said. As part of its probe, in April, ED attached properties worth ₹11.15 crore belonging to Varsha Raut, including the flat in Dadar and plots in Kihim, an official said.
