BJP reacts to ED Raids At Sanjay Raut's Home; 'Will be held accountable for wrongdoings'

On Sunday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted mega raids at Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut's 'Maitri' residence at Mumbai's Bhandup in connection with the Patra Chawl land scam case. BJP has reacted to the mega raids stating that Shiv Sena leader's 'Mafiagiri' and 'Corruption' has been exposed and he will be held accountable for all the wrongdoings he committed during MVA government rule. The raids came a day after the Sena MP skipped two summons issued by the agency which is probing a PMLA case related to the alleged Patra Chawl land scam. 

BJP reacts to ED raids at Sanjay Raut's residence

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya attacked Sanjay Raut and said, "He will be held accountable for all his crimes-- whether it is 1200 crore Patra Chawl land scam, Vasai Naigaon Unitech PHCL builder scam, Mafiagiri, threatening people, putting people in jail, the way Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had spread the terror of corruption in Maharashtra. Now Sanjay Raut will have to give an account of all his corruption, Mafiagiri and Dadagiri".

While speaking exclusively to Republic TV, Maharashtra BJP leader Ram Kadam stated that if Raut has not committed any scam then what is the reason behind skipping the ED summons. He further added that the central agencies do not take action overnight but follow a detailed investigation before raiding someone. 

"As we know that ED summoned Raut and asked him to appear in their office 2 days ago. When the Shiv Sena leader has not committed anything wrong as he claims then why he has been avoiding ED summons? What is the reason? when the person is constantly avoiding ED officials, what does it mean? It is clearly evident he wants to hide something. ED, Income tax, or CBI departments do not take any actions overnight. They study all the documents for several months and when they find any financial fraud then only these departments take some action," he said.

Kadam further added, "ED has been asking questions from the Shiv Sena leader for several months now and he has been avoiding it. He has time to address the media three times a day but unfortunately does not have time to answer the question of ED officials. This is now New India and the law is the same for everyone whether he is a leader or industrialist or actor or a common man, the law is equal for everyone. As per the rules and regulations, ED has been taking action and this is all because he skipped the summon 2 days ago".

ED Summons Sanjay Raut In Money Laundering Case 

The summons issued to the Shiv Sena leader was in connection with the Rs.1,034 crore land scam case which pertains to the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl and related transactions involving his wife and other associates. While businessman Pravin Raut was arrested in this case in February, the ED attached 8 land parcels in Alibaug and a flat in Mumbai's Dadar linked to Sanjay Raut on April 5.

The Sena leader has denied any wrongdoing and alleged that he is being targeted due to political vendetta. Raut is a loyalist of former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who was recently forced out of office following a rebellion and split in the party. The Rajya Sabha MP was questioned in the case on July 1. He spent about 10 hours with the investigating officer during which his statement was recorded under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

In April, the ED had provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 11.15 crore of Raut's wife Varsha Raut, and two of his associates as part of its probe. 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 Private Limited, at Palghar, Saphale (a town in Palghar) and Padgha (in Thane district).

The properties also include a flat in Mumbai suburb Dadar held by Varsha Raut and eight plots at the Kihim beach in Alibaug jointly held by Varsha Raut and Swapna Patkar, the wife of Sujit Patkar, a "close associate" of Sanjay Raut, the ED had said. 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.

(Image: PTI)