Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut outside Shiv Sena Bhawan, at Dadar in Mumbai
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday issued fresh summons asking Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut to appear on July 1 for questioning in connection to a money laundering case, officials said. Raut was first issued the summons for Tuesday but sought more time citing official commitments.
Several officials said that this relates to the re-development of a Mumbai 'chawl' and other financial transactions that include his wife and some friends. His lawyers had met Enforcement Directorate officials in Mumbai on Tuesday and sought 14 days' time for his appearance but the agency only gave him a relief till this month-end.
The agency wants to question the 60-year-old Raut and record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The development comes as the Shiv Sena battles rebellion from a group of its MLAs, putting a question mark on the future of Maharashtra's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Rebel Shiv Sena legislators, who were first taken to Surat, are now camping in Guwahati.
ED attaches Sanjay Raut's properties
Earlier in April, the agency had provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 11.15 crore of Raut's wife Varsha Raut and two of his associates as part of this investigation. The attached properties are in the form of land held by Pravin M Raut, Sanjay Raut's aide and a former director of Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd, at Palghar, Saphale (town in Palghar) and Padgha (in Thane district).
The attached properties also include a flat in Mumbai's suburb Dadar held by Varsha Raut and eight plots at Kihim beach in Alibaug jointly held by Varsha Raut and Swapna Patkar, wife of Sujit Patkar, the ED said in a statement. According to the ED, Sujit Patkar is a close associate of Sanjay Raut.
It is understood that the agency wants to question Sanjay Raut to know about his "business and other links" with Pravin Raut and Patkar and also about the property deals involving his wife. Pravin Raut was arrested by the ED in February.
(With Inputs from PTI)
ALSO READ | "Best wishes on ED summons": Rebel Sena leader Eknath Shinde's son tells Sanjay Raut
ALSO READ | Sanjay Raut, Uddhav Thackeray's confidant, gets ED summon in land scam case
