Sanjay Raut news: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut was produced before a special court in Mumbai today, by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The court has sent him to judicial custody for 14 days. Notably, his ED custody had ended today, and the agency didn't seek to extend his custody this time. He was arrested in the Patra Chawl land scam money laundering case. Raut, a Rajya Sabha member, was found to be a beneficiary of Rs 1.17 crore of proceeds of crime in addition to Rs 1.06 crore that had come to light earlier, it claimed.
The court last Thursday extended Raut's ED custody till August 8, while noting the agency had made “remarkable progress” in the probe into the money laundering case involving the Shiv Sena leader. The ED had sought his further custody for eight days, saying it has unearthed a new trail of money.
The Shiv Sena leader was arrested on August 1 in connection with alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl (row tenement) in suburban Goregaon.
The documents seized during the probe showed the purchase of properties at Alibaug in neighbouring Raigad district by Raut involved substantial cash transactions, the ED had said. As much as Rs 1.08 crore was found in the bank account of Sanjay Raut's wife Varsha Raut, the probe agency had claimed.
The ED on Saturday questioned Varsha Raut for more than nine hours in connection with the case and recorded her statement. Sanjay Raut, 60, is a close aide of Shiv Sena president and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. He has denied any wrongdoing and called the ED case against him as "false".
(With PTI Inputs)
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