Shiv Sena denies show of strength outside ED office following notice to Varsha Raut

The Shiv Sena has denied that it was planning a demonstration outside the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office at Ballard Pier on Tuesday. The clarification was issued

The Shiv Sena has denied that it was planning a demonstration outside the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office at Ballard Pier on Tuesday. The clarification was issued after a few reports claimed that the ruling party had planned an agitation outside the office of the investigating agency, with thousands of workers scheduled to attend.

The Sena has been aggressive against the ED since it sent notice against Varsha Raut, wife of its member of Parliament (MP) Sanjay Raut. (HT PHOTO)

The Sena has been aggressive against the ED since it sent notice against Varsha Raut, wife of its member of Parliament (MP) Sanjay Raut, and had started mobilising its workers for the demonstration.

However, the reports were dismissed by Raut. “These news are false. We will come on streets when required but not for this reason. Such acts of vengeance will be answered by legal means. Why should we fear when we have [done] nothing wrong?” tweeted Raut.

The Sena leader further said that he had the support of his party’s workers, but there was no reason for such a show of strength at this moment. He underlined that he understood the anxiety of the workers.

The demonstration was being planned on the lines of the one put up by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) during its chief Sharad Pawar’s scheduled appearance before ED officers in September 2019.

Varsha is expected to visit the ED office on January 5, after she asked for it to be rescheduled. ED had summoned Varsha concerning the transfer of ₹50 lakh from the accounts of Pravin Raut, an accused arrested in connection with the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank fraud case, which is also being probed by ED.

Pravin was one of the directors in Guruashish Constructions, a subsidiary of Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL). He was arrested along with the HDIL directors for illegally availing loans from PMC Bank.

Raut has been accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of running a campaign to destabilise the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra.