ED questions Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut’s brother in ‘khichdi’ case

Sandeep Raut reached the ED office in south Mumbai around noon and told the media that the agency had summoned him in connection with the Khichdi case

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is questioning Sandeep Raut, the younger brother of Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut, in a money laundering case linked to the alleged irregularities in ‘Khichdi’ distribution during the Covid-19 pandemic, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Sandeep Raut arrives at the ED office in Mumbai on Tuesday. (PTI)

ED is verifying allegations that a firm under scanner had conducted a dubious monetary transaction worth several lakhs with Sandeep and wanted to verify the nature of the transactions, the people said.

Sandeep reached the ED office in south Mumbai around noon and told the media that the agency had summoned him in connection with the Khichdi case and that he will respond to all of its questions properly and will cooperate in the probe.

He said that he had been called by the agency for a transaction of ₹5 lakh and that all allegations against him were false, baseless, politically motivated and part of an attempt to harass their family – for having shown allegiance to party leader Uddhav Thackeray. Sandeep, who owns a hotel, said that the allegations do not merit an ED probe.

The agency had recently arrested Suraj Chavan, a Shiv Sena (UBT) party secretary, for his alleged role in the case. The ED probe alleged that Chavan and his partnership firm had received ₹1.35 crore from an accused contractor firm, out of the latter’s illegal generation of proceeds of crime worth ₹3.64 crore. This was done by allegedly showing him as an employee of the firm since 2019-20 and the funds were transferred to him as salary, and some in the form of loans, during June 2020 to December 2020.

The ED began its money-laundering investigation on the basis of a September 2023 first information report (FIR) of the Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) that alleged there were irregularities worth ₹6.37 crore in the case. The agency suspects that the scheme’s contractor had allegedly supplied khichdi to the BMC at inflated rates with the help of certain civic officials who are under the scanner. It was also alleged that a few middlemen with political influence were at play who helped the contractors bag the supply contract in lieu of payments.

It was alleged that the contractor that was given the contract by BMC to provide khichdi did not meet the criteria as it did not have the food license. It was also alleged that the food packets to be distributed were required to weigh 300 grams but they weighed less.

The EOW case was registered against businessman Sujit Patkar, two persons associated with Sahyadri Refreshments, Force One Multi Service’s partners and employees, Sneha Caterer’s partners, then assistant municipal commissioner (Planning) and other unidentified BMC officers. The EOW case was registered under several sections including those related to cheating and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) after the police detected financial irregularities in the award of contracts for the distribution of ‘khichdi’ during the Covid-19 pandemic.