After being questioned by officials at their zonal office for more than six hours, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) late on Sunday night.

The ED searched Raut’s Bhandup home for nearly nine hours on Sunday before detaining him for questioning in relation to an alleged money-laundering case involving the reconstruction of a Chawl project in Goregaon, a suburb of Mumbai.

The Rajya Sabha MP, a member of the Uddhav Thackeray faction, had claimed that he was innocent and denied any misconduct stating that he’s a victim of political vendetta.

But before figuring it out, let us know What exactly is Patra Chawl scam? What charges have been brought against Raut?

A contract between Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd and the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) was made in 2007 to build 672 Patra Chawl renters’ brand-new homes, build apartments for MHADA, and sell the remaining land to private developers.

Pravin Raut, a close associate of Sanjay Raut, and the other Guru Ashish Constructions directors, however, are accused by the ED of failing to build even a single home for the 672 evicted tenants. The floor space index is said to have been sold by them for Rs 901.7 crore to nine private companies.

In addition, Guru Ashish Constructions started work on a project named “The Meadows” and collected approximately Rs 138 crore in deposits from buyers of apartments. The ED claims that Guru Ashish Constructions earned a total of Rs 1,039.79 crore from these “illegal operations.”

According to the ED, their investigations revealed that Pravin Raut received Rs 100 crore from Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), a subsidiary of which Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd, and “diverted” it to a number of accounts belonging to “his close associates, family member, and his business entities,” including the family of Sanjay Raut.

The ED claims that Varsha Raut received a portion of the revenues from Madhuri Raut, Pravin Raut’s wife, in 2010 totaling Rs 83 lakh either directly or indirectly. Varsha Raut used this money to acquire an apartment in Dadar. It is also made known that Varsha Raut transferred Rs 55 lakh to Madhuri Raut following the start of the ED inquiry. Additionally, there are numerous other transactions as well.

The ED informed, “During the said period, eight plots of land at Kihim beach in Alibaug were also purchased in the names of Varsha Raut and Swapna Patkar, wife of Sujit Patkar, a close associate of Sanjay Raut. In this land deal, apart from the registered value, cash payments were made to the sellers. On identification of these assets and other assets of Pravin Raut, a provisional attachment order attaching all these assets of Pravin Raut and his associates has been issued.”

On July 1, Sanjay Raut was questioned once in relation to this matter, during which time he spoke with the investigating officer for almost 10 hours and provided a statement that was recorded in accordance with the penal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

As part of this probe, the ED temporarily attached Varsha Raut and two of his associates’ assets in April totaling more than Rs 11.15 crore. Eight pieces of land in Alibaug and an apartment in Mumbai’s Dadar neighborhood were connected to him and his family. The ED had earlier detained Pravin Raut in connection with the matter in February. He is currently under judicial custody.

The Shiv Sena leader said to the press back in April, “I’m not one to get scared. Sanjay Raut is a Shiv Sainik and a supporter of Balasaheb Thackeray. Whether you take my property, kill me, or put me in jail, he’ll fight and expose everyone. I’m not the type to stay silent and let them dance. The truth will win prevail.”

Aaditya Thackeray, defended Raut in April, calling the ED move “vindictive politics.”

Union minister and BJP leader Raosaheb Danve refuted the accusations of a political vendetta made by Sena MP by saying, “CBI and ED work independently. Politics have nothing to do with it.

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