Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut skips ED summons

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut skipped appearing before the Enforcement Directorate ED in Mumbai on Wednesday for questioning in a moneylaundering case citing his engagement with the ongoing Parliament session in Delhi sources saidThe Rajya Sabha MPs lawyers met ED officials in Mumbai with his written response to the summons and sought time for him after the first week of AugustThe federal probe agency will issue him a fresh date after going through the submissions made by his legal team officials saidThey said Raut 60 has expressed his inability to appear before the agency at its Mumbai zonal office as he is attending the Parliament sessionThe Sena leader has denied any wrongdoing and alleged that he is being targeted due to political vendettaRaut is a loyalist of former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray who was recently forced out of office following a rebellion and split in the Shiv SenaRaut was questioned in the case on July 1 He had spent about 10 hours with the investigating officer during which his statement was recorded under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLAI gave full cooperation and answered all their questions I will appear again if they call me Raut had told reporters after he was grilled by the EDHe said he was fearless and undaunted as he had not done anything wrong in lifeThe development comes amid a rebellion in the Shiv Sena with a tussle over the party symbol and the control of the organisation between Thackeray and current Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath ShindeIn April the ED had provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 1115 crore of Rauts wife Varsha Raut and two of his associates as part of its probeThe attached properties are in the form of land held by Pravin M Raut Sanjay Rauts aide and a former director of Guru Ashish Construction Private Limited at Palghar Saphale a town in Palghar and Padgha in Thane districtThe properties also include a flat in Mumbai suburb Dadar held by Varsha Raut and eight plots at the Kihim beach in Alibaug jointly held by Varsha Raut and Swapna Patkar the wife of Sujit Patkar a close associate of Sanjay Raut the ED had saidThe agency wants to question Sanjay Raut to know about his business and other links with Pravin Raut and Patkar and also about the property deals involving his wifeAfter arresting Pravin Raut in February the ED had said he appears to be acting as a front or in collusion with some influential personThe agency had also said Pravin Raut had made payments to certain politicallyexposed personsIn the Alibaug land deal apart from the registered value cash payments were made to the sellers the agency had allegedPravin Raut was arrested by the ED in a probe linked to a Rs 1034crore alleged land scam related to the redevelopment of the Patra chawl in Mumbais Goregaon area He is currently in judicial custodyGuru Ashish Construction Private Limited was involved in the redevelopment of the chawl which had 672 tenants living in tenements on 47 acres belonging to the Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority MHADA the ED had said earlierThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever