The Enforcement Directorate on Sunday afternoon took Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut to its office after searching his Mumbai house for nine hours in relation to a money-laundering case, PTI reported.
This came after Raut had skipped summons issued by the agency twice – on July 20 and July 27. He had sought time till August 7 citing the ongoing session of Parliament, according to the Hindustan Times.
The Enforcement Directorate had last questioned Raut on July 1 for nearly 10 hours, following which the Shiv Sena leader had said it was his duty to appear before the central agencies if they have any doubt in their minds.
The agency is investigating a money-laundering case referred to as the Patra Chawl scam, which involves alleged fraud worth Rs 1,034 crore. The alleged fraudulent financial transactions are connected with the redevelopment of a chawl – a building consisting of several tenements – in Mumbai.
The Enforcement Directorate has accused Raut, his wife and construction company HDIL promoter Rakesh Wadhwan of fraudulently raising money for the project to siphon off the amount with no intent to complete the tenement.
On Sunday, Raut alleged that the charges against him are false, ANI reported.
“False charges and documents are being framed against people,” the leader said. “All of this is being done to weaken Shiv Sena and Maharashtra. Sanjay Raut won’t be cowed down.”
Raut’s advocate Vikrant Sabne said that the Enforcement Directorate took documents that they felt were important, ANI reported. “Some property documents were seized,” he added. “But, no documents related to Patra Chawl were taken by them.”
Sabne added that Raut had gone to the Enforcement Directorate office to record a statement. The MP has neither been arrested, nor detained, he said.
The summons to Raut had come amid a political crisis in Maharashtra and within the Shiv Sena after a faction led by MLA Eknath Shinde rebelled against the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government – a coalition of the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.
Subsequently, the coalition was ousted from power as the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction was reduced to a minority in the state Assembly. Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra on June 30, while the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Devendra Fadnavis took oath as his deputy.
On Sunday morning, Raut reiterated that he has nothing to do with the case.
“I am saying this by taking the oath of Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray,” he wrote in a tweet. “Balasaheb [Thackeray] taught us to fight and I will continue to fight for Shiv Sena.”
In another tweet, he wrote: “False action. False evidence. I will not leave Shiv Sena. Even if I die, I will not surrender. Jai Maharashtra.”
Meanwhile, the BJP said that Raut should not be scared of the Enforcement Directorate if he is innocent.
“The investigation is underway. If he hasn’t done anything wrong, why is he scared?” Shinde said, according to ANI. “ED [Enforcement Directorate] also conducted investigations earlier. If ED works under the fear of the Central government then the Supreme Court should take action on this.”
Another BJP MLA, Ram Kadam said: “He [Raut] has all the time to give press conference but no time to visit the probe agency office for questioning.”
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said that agencies like the Enforcement Directorate have been working under Union government’s pressure, PTI reported.
“Central investigating agencies such as CBI, Enforcement Directorate, and income tax department should do their work impartially,” he said. “But, they are working under pressure. This is our complaint.”
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