The Designated Special Court under PMLA in Mumbai on Monday granted four-day custody of Sanjay Raut to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Patra Chawl money laundering case. The ED produced the Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP before the Special Court and sought his custody for eight days, accusing Raut of being a recipient of proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs. 1.06 cr from one of the accused Pravin Raut, who was arrested in January this year.
However, acquiescing to the demand partially the Special Court sent Raut to ED custody up to 4 August only. The court also directed the ED not to question him beyond 10.30 in the evening, while it granted Raut permission to meet his lawyers between 8.30 and 9.30 when in ED custody.
The ED on Sunday raided Raut’s house in Friends Colony at Bhandup Village in Mumbai. The raid which began at about 7 in the morning continued till 5 in the evening after which Raut was summoned to the ED office at Ballard Estate for further questioning. The ED raid also led to the recovery of Rs. 11.50 lakh from his residence. The packet that contained the currency notes had Ayodhya written on it. According to sources, the money was collected from Shiv Sena leaders and workers for Aditya Thackeray’s visit to Ayodhya and was supposed to be returned to them.
After Raut reached the ED office at 6 p.m., he was formally arrested at about 12.05 midnight.
According to the ED submission before the Special Court, Pravin Raut was a director of Guru Ashish Constructions, owned by Rakesh Wadhwan and Sarang Wadhwan, and was actively involved in the execution of a tripartite agreement for the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl. The owners of Guru Ashish Constructions allegedly sold 47 acres of the land to seven companies and received Rs. 1034 cr in return, without building any flats for 672 tenants of the Chawl, thus leaving them high and dry.
Pravin is alleged to have received Rs. 112 cr in crime proceeds and was a front man of Sanjay Raut. The Shiv Sena leader and his wife, according to the ED officials, allegedly received Rs. 1.06 cr from Pravin. The ED has alleged that Raut bought a piece of land in Alibagh with the proceeds of the crime. Raut is also accused to have received Rs. 2 lakh every month from Pravin.
After Raut’s arrest in the intervening night on Sunday, four battalions of the CRPF were deployed at the ED office and Court premises, where Raut was produced on Monday by ED officials to seek his remand for eight days. Before entering the court room, Raut said, “They are trying to finish me. I will fight back and will win.”
Sources close to ED investigations told The Daily Guardian that after getting four-day remand from the Special ED court the agency may ask Raut many uncomfortable questions which the accused may not find difficult to answer.
One of the most important questions, according to sources, may be on what kind of business associations he has with Pravin Raut? Why would Pravin pay him Rs, 2 lakh every month? What was the deal between them? How much he paid for the Alibagh property and what was the source of the money? Why did he borrow money from Pravin Raut and why one would lend him without charging any interest on that? How would he explain his earlier claim that he had received only Rs. 55 lakh whereas he had received Rs. 1.06 crore?
Meanwhile, Raut’s arrest has been slammed by Uddhav Thackeray and other leaders of his faction of Shiv Sena.
Speaking to media persons after meeting Raut’s family in the day, the former chief minister of Maharashtra hit out at those Shiv Sena MLAs who deserted him and compared the BJP with Hitler. “Those who switched loyalty to BJP have entered into a bathtub and will realize it only when the tap will run dry.” Praising the Saamana editor as a true follower of Balasaheb Thackeray, Uddhav further said, “I am proud of Sanjay Raut. He is Balasaheb’s Shivsainik. A Shivsainik will never bow before the powers that be. Earlier politics used brains but nowadays it is all about using force.”
In a veiled reference to the BJP government at the Centre, Uddhav observed, “The people who are using force should also remember that every dog has its day. Those who are misusing power would realize it the day they would lose power.” He further said, “The BJP is decimating regional parties. Nadda is also saying that regional parties will be finished. This is a conspiracy by BJP to ensnare Sanjay Raut. This is not right.”