Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut in the land scam case.
Maharashtra Political Crisis: Amid Shiv Sena vs Shiv Sena battle in Supreme Court, rebel leader Eknath Shinde’s son Shrikant Shinde took a jibe at Sanjay Raut, saying, “My best wishes to Sanjay Raut on the ED summons.” The rebel leader’s son made his remarks in Marathi. He said the rebels would eventually win the court battle.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut in the land scam case. He has been asked to appear before ED officials at 11 am on Tuesday for questioning at the agency’s office in South Mumbai.
ED Joint Director Satyavrat Kumar confirmed that the Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP has been summoned. The summons have been issued in a case related to Praveen Raut and Patra Rice land scam. The agency had earlier attached some properties belonging to Raut and his family members.
The agency wants to record the statement of the Rajya Sabha MP under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Responding to the ED summons, Raut termed the summons a conspiracy. “I just got to know that ED has summoned me. Good! There are big political developments in Maharashtra. We, Balasaheb’s Shiv Sainiks are fighting a big battle. This is a conspiracy to stop me. Even if you kill me, I will Won’t take the Guwahati route. Arrest me!” He tweeted.
Later talking to reporters, Raut said the summons was an attempt to stop him and vowed that he would not bow down to any pressure. Raut said that he will definitely appear before the ED but not tomorrow as he has to address a public meeting in Alibaug.
In April, the ED had provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 11.15 crore of Raut’s wife Varsha Raut and two of their associates as part of the probe. The attached properties are in the form of land in Palghar, Safal (a town in Palghar) and Padgha (in Thane district) with Praveen M Raut, Sanjay Raut’s associate and former director of Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd.
The attached properties include a flat of Varsha Raut in Dadar suburb of Mumbai and eight plots at Kihim Beach in Alibaug, jointly owned by Varsha Raut and Sujit Patkar’s wife Swapna Patkar, the ED said in a statement. According to the ED, Sujit Patkar is a close aide of Sanjay Raut.