PMC Bank scam: After ED summons Varsha Raut, Shiv Sena shows support

Maharashtra Cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray calls ED notice politically motivated

A day after Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued summons to Varsha Raut, wife of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena rallied behind the leader. State minister and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aaditya Thackeray expressed the government’s support and called the notice politically motivated.

Sanjay Raut. (HT Archive)

“This is all political. The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government is not afraid of any such notice,” said Aaditya Thackeray, who is also a Cabinet minister in the MVA ministry.

Varsha Raut has been summoned by the ED on December 29 reportedly in connection with a multi-crore scam in Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank.

Sanjay Raut has, however, denied receiving any notice from the ED, and instead taunted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said, “I have sent my man to the BJP office to collect the notice,” said Sanjay Raut.

The central agency has reportedly found a link of transactions between the accounts of Varsha Raut and Pravin Raut, one of the directors of Guruashish Constructions Private Limited, who was arrested recently in connection with the scam.

BJP leader and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said Sanjay Raut should not fear if he is innocent. “This is just a notice and there is nothing to fear if he has not done anything,” said Fadnavis.

State home minister Anil Deshmukh has condemned the notice. “Anyone who opposes the BJP or their policies is targeted. Such a witch hunt was never seen in Maharashtra politics before,” said Deshmukh.