The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on August 17 carried out searches at multiple locations in Mumbai in connection with the Patra Chawl case in which Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut was arrested earlier this month.
After being questioned for nine hours, Mr. Raut was arrested on August 1 by the central agency over allegations of money laundering and irregularities pertaining to the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl in Mumbai's Goregaon. It is alleged by ED that the developers, one of them a close associate of Mr. Raut, fraudulently made ₹1,039.79 crore from this scheme and Mr. Raut also benefited from the scam.
On August 8, Mr. Raut was sent to judicial custody till August 22 by the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court. He is currently lodged at the Arthur Road Jail. The ED has previously attached assets belonging to Mr. Raut and also questioned his wife Varsha Raut in the case.
