New Delhi: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last night, after hours of questioning in the Patra Chawl land scam case.
The Shiv Sena MP was seen waving his saffron scarf while he was being taken by the ED officials ahead of his detention & then arrest. The ED raided his Mumbai residence in connection with alleged money laundering over development of a ‘chawl’. Sanjay Raut termed this a conspiracy by the Centre to weaken the Shiv Sena, with malicious intentions.
How ED grilling ended in arrest
Sanjay Raut claimed it a pressure tactic by the Centre and accused the latter of browbeating him to leave the Sena. On the other hand, BJP mounted a bitter charge at the Sena leader and accused him of misappropriating over Rs 1,000 crore.
An ED team reached Raut’s Mumbai residence on Sunday morning and made searches over irregularities. The sleuths detained him in evening & started questioning around 7 pm. Sena workers protested at many places including Jammu & Pune over Raut’s quizzing.
In the raids, ED seized cash worth Rs 11.50 lakh from Raut’s residence.
What is Patra Chawl land scam case
At the centre of controversy is Guruashish Constructions, a sister company of Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL). It was given the contract for redevelopment of Patra Chawl by MHADA (Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority).
As per the agreement, the Guruashish Constructions had to develop flats for 672 tenants of Patra Chawl and 3,000 flats were to be delivered to MHADA.
Reports suggest that the Guruashish Constructions misled the MHADA and sold FSI to 9 developers for over 900 crores. It didn’t build any flat for 672 displaced tenants. Failed to deliver on promised flats, the Construction company launched Project Meadows and took over booking amount from celebs. The financial irregularity in the scam is estimated to be at Rs 1,034 crores.
Notably, the HDIL is a real estate company that had drawn loan of Rs 6,700 crore from the PMC Cooperative Bank which eventually led to the collapse of the bank..
In March 2018, the MHADA had filed case against Guruashish constructions while in February 2020, Pravin Raut was arrested by EOW, while Sarang Wadhawan was arrested by EOW in September.
