PMC Bank scam: Sanjay Raut says ED action an attempt to bring down MVA govt

ED has summoned Varsha Raut for an inquiry on December 29. The central agency has reportedly found a link of transactions between her account and that of Pravin Raut, who was arrested recently

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, whose wife Varsha Raut was issued summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) reportedly in connection with a multi-crore scam in Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank, warned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against a witch hunt.

Sanjay Raut. (HT Archive)

Raut, in a press conference held at Shiv Sena Bhavan in Central Mumbai, alleged that some BJP leaders have been trying to pass on a message to him that by using agencies like ED, CBI and the Income Tax department, they plan to bring down the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

ED has summoned Varsha Raut for an inquiry on December 29. 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 Construction Private Limited, who was arrested recently.

“Since the last year, leaders like Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel and others who were responsible for forming this government are being targeted. From the last three months, three people from the BJP have been frequenting the ED office and procuring documents from there. Since the last year, few BJP leaders have been trying to contact us with the message that the MVA government will soon be brought down. They said that they will use all agencies to achieve their aim of targeting opposition legislators and seeking their resignations. A list of 22 MLAs from the three ruling parties (Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress) was shown to be ready for action by these agencies. Pratap Sarnaik (who is facing an ED probe) was one of them. Since they have failed, they are now targeting our family members,” alleged Raut.

Raut alleged that though outsiders are not allowed in the ED office, a few BJP leaders have been frequenting the office to get key documents. He questioned whether the BJP office has an ED cell or if the ED’s office has one for the party leaders. Raut also claimed that he has a list of 120 BJP leaders who have been party to questionable transactions and he was going to hand it over to the ED for further action.

He said his wife Varsha Raut is a teacher who took a loan of Rs50 lakh from her friend 10 years ago. “For the last one-and-a-half months, ED has been corresponding with us. We have given all the documents they demanded. We have shown our IT returns and even disclosed my Rajya Sabha affidavit. If I start targeting BJP leaders, many of them in the Centre would have to run away from the country,” he added.

BJP said that Raut was making misleading claims. “Raut should face the agency and furnish facts instead of politicising this inquiry. Raut should furnish the list of 120 BJP leaders and demand an inquiry. Who is stopping him from giving it to ED?” questioned BJP legislator Ram Kadam.