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Sanjay Raut accuses ED of harassing, threatening him, his family, associates
He said central agencies were being used for toppling democratically elected governments, which is an unhealthy sign for democracy
MUMBAI: Shiv Sena Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut has written a letter to Rajya Sabha chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu alleging harassment from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after his refusal to “assist” in “toppling” the Maharashtra government.
“ED and other central agencies are being used with [an] oblique motive of toppling democratically elected governments which is certainly not a healthy sign for any country where democracy prevails,” Raut wrote in the four-page letter, which he posted on Twitter late on Tuesday.
He claimed officials of ED and other investigating agencies “are reduced to puppets of their political masters”. He added officials “confessed” that they have been “asked by their ‘bosses’ to ‘fix’ me.”
“I am not scared, nor am I going to bow down and will continue to speak the truth,” Raut wrote. He added about a month ago, he was approached by “certain people” and told to assist them in toppling the government in Maharashtra. “They wanted me to be instrumental in such endeavour so that the state could be forced into a midterm election. I refused to be a party to any such clandestine agenda which was being pursued, upon which I was warned that my refusal could lead to my paying a very heavy price.”
Raut said people connected to him were being “threatened and harassed”. He wrote his family owns an acre of land in Alibaug, which was purchased nearly 17 years ago. Raut accused the ED of harassing those who sold the land, as well as their family members. “Persons who sold the land nearly two decades ago, their heirs and family members are being threatened by ED and other agencies personnel to give statement against me to the effect that they received some cash from me over and above the agreement value,” he wrote. He added this was also happening to other people who sold him and his family land in 2012-13. “Day after day, ED and other agencies personnel call these people and threaten them with jail and attachment of their personal properties unless they give their statements against me,” he said. He claimed probe agencies were summoning, intimidating and threatening the decorators and other vendors hired for his daughter’s wedding last year “to extract statements from them that they received ₹50 lakh from me in cash”. He added on the refusal of these people to “partake in such endeavour, the ED and other agencies are continuously harassing them”.
Raut accused the ED and other agencies of unlawfully picking up 28 people so far. “They have made them attend the ED office and sit in a cabin where the threats are administered…The ED and other agencies personnel who are tasked with the duty to protect revenue and secure proceeds of crime are now reduced to puppets of their political masters,” he wrote.
ED has arrested Raut’s relative, Pravin, in a money-laundering case. A company linked to Raut’s daughters is also under ED probe. Last week, Raut accused the Centre of political vendetta and added it was going after the families of political opponents.
Raut alleged the ED and other Central agencies were threatening and harassing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s political rivals by using the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, which was enacted in 2003, retrospectively. He added this was being done with the ulterior motive “in the garb of investigation” for decades-old transactions “that have nothing to do with any money laundering”. Raut said the law can only be applied to transactions after 2003.
Raut said he perceives these attempts as a direct attack on his right to speak freely in the House and outside. “I perceive it to be an attack on our democracy. I perceive the recent attacks on people known and unknown to me to have been occasioned due to my refusal to partake in conspiring to topple the State Government in Maharashtra.”
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Raut separately accused the BJP leaders of running a “criminal syndicate” by using the central agencies to target key opposition leaders and topple the government. He threatened to expose what happens in Mumbai’s ED office. “I can understand their pain since they are out of power. They must fight politically, but they are running a criminal syndicate by using central agencies, which is unconstitutional. Currently, ED and other agencies are a part of a criminal syndicate of the BJP. The letter was a trailer.”
Raut said he will hold two press conferences in Mumbai, including one outside the ED office and “expose” what goes on there and at whose behest. “There are two-three people who sit in the ED office and direct them to target Opposition leaders. I appeal to [BJP leader] Devendra Fadnavis... he understands what I want to tell him,” he said. “...if we enter your house, you would not be able to even go to Nagpur.”
Fadnavis did not respond to text messages or calls for comment.
The Shiv Sena ended over a two-decade alliance with the BJP to form the government in Maharashtra in 2019 with Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar rejected Raut’s allegations, saying they have been levelled out of frustration and to threaten the agencies. “Raut has been disturbed because of action being taken against his relatives as claimed by him. No agency takes any action without having any concrete evidence. If he [Raut] thinks the action by the agencies is arbitrary, he has every right to move for legal remedies.”
NCP leader and minister Nawab Malik blamed Fadnavis for action by the central agencies against the leaders of Maharashtra’s ruling alliance. He added Fadnavis dictates ED officers whom to targeted as the BJP wants to topple the government by scaring allies. “They [BJP] are forcing the allies to snap the alliance with and join the BJP for it to come to power. This is the reason Shiv Sena and NCP leaders are being targeted.”
