The official of the Enforcement Directorate reached Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's house on Sunday morning in connection with the Patra Chawl land scam case after the Shiv Sena MP skipped the summons of the agency twice citing the ongoing Parliament session and sought time till August 7. Sanjay Raut faced ED questioning on July 1 and said he will appear again if the agency asks him to. On July 20, the ED summoned him which he skipped because of the ongoing Parliament session. A fresh summon was issued on July 27, which he skipped because of the same reason. Sanjay Raut said he is in Delhi and attending the Parliament session. Also Read: Sanjay Raut’s wife earned ₹14 lakh profit from investment of ₹5,625 in construction firm, says ED chargesheet
Photos showed CRPF personnel at the premises of Sanjay Raut's residence early on Sunday morning.
Sanjay Raut took to Twitter and dismissed any association with any scam and said he will not leave Shiv Sena. “False action. False evidence. I will not leave Shiv Sena. Even if I die, I will not surrender. Jai Maharashtra,” he tweeted.
The ED action comes a day after purported audio of Sanjay Raut allegedly abusing and threatening Swapna Patkar, a key witness in the case, went viral. HT has not verified the authenticity of the audio. Neither Raut, nor Shiv Sena has reacted to the viral audio.
{{/usCountry}}The ED action comes a day after purported audio of Sanjay Raut allegedly abusing and threatening Swapna Patkar, a key witness in the case, went viral. HT has not verified the authenticity of the audio. Neither Raut, nor Shiv Sena has reacted to the viral audio.
{{/usCountry}}Swapna Patkar is a close aide of Sanjay Raut's wife but has turned against Raut in this case. Weeks before, Swapna Patkar's statement was recorded by the ED and she reportedly submitted some documents which are against Sanjay Raut. Swapna also informed in her statement that she was receiving rape and death threats for her statements against Raut.
In April, before the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, the ED provisionally attached assets worth over ₹11.15 crore of Sanjay Raut's wife Varsha Raut and two of his associates. 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 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).