Patra Chawl Land Scam: ED Arrests Sanjay Raut

ED has  arrested Sanjay Raut, MP, and Chief Spokesman for Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena faction for alleged involvement in the Rs 1,034 crore  Patra Chawl land re-development scam. Earlier, his Mumbai house was raided for repeatedly not showing up for questioning by the probe agency related to the   alleged land scam at Goregaon on Mumbai’s outskirt. Raut was questioned for about 10 hours on July 1 during which his statement was recorded under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. In April, the Enforcement Directorate attached assets worth over ₹ 11.15 crore of Raut’s wife Varsha Raut and two of his associates as part of its probe. He had skipped summon today for questioning citing preoccupation with parliament session.   At 7 am on July 31, ED officials raided Raut’s home in Mumbai’s eastern suburb of Bhandup. The agency wants to question Sanjay Raut to know about his “business and other links” with the accused and also about the property deals involving his wife.ED wanted to ask him question about transactions of money in the case in which wife and close aides are also allegedly involved. Amidt the searches, the 61 years old politician tweeted “I have nothing to do with any scam. I am saying this by taking the oath of Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray. Balasaheb taught us to fight and I will continue to fight for Shiv Sena.” First Post recalled in 2007, Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd signed an agreement with Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) to provide 672 tenants of Patra Chawl with new homes, then develop flats for MHADA and sell the remaining area to private developers. ED alleges Sanjay Raut’s close aide Pravin Raut and the other directors of Guru Ashish constructions didn’t construct a single house for the 672 displaced tenants. They allegedly sold the floor space index to nine private developers collecting Rs 901.79 crore. Guru Ashish Constructions launched “The Meadows” and collected booking amounts of around Rs 138 crore from flat buyers. The ED has alleged that the total proceeds of the crime generated by Guru Ashish Constructions through these “illegal activities” is estimated at   Rs 1,039.79 crore.  Edited by PK Chakravarty.  Pic courtesy: Free Press Journal.