Mumbai: A court in Mumbai Monday sent Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut to ED custody till August 4. Raut was produced in court by Enforcement Directorate officials after a medical check-up in the JJ hospital. There is a heavy police deployment outside the courtroom. The ED sought 8-day custody of Raut. Senior Advocate Ashok Mundargi was arguing on behalf of the Sena leader.
As soon as Raut reached the court, his supporters greeted him with Jai Maharastra slogans and folded hands. Raut, before entering the courtroom, assured his supporters in the court corridor that the efforts being made to break Shiv Sena will not succeed. Shiv Sena chief and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is addressing a press conference at Maatoshri later today.
Earlier in the day, Uddhav reached Sanjay Raut’s residence to show solidarity with the Sena leader. Raut, who spent the night in ED's south Mumbai office after his arrest in a money laundering case, was taken to the hospital after 12.30 pm. He was seen waving to media personnel gathered outside the agency's office.
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ED arrested Raut on Sunday in a case linked to alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of a Mumbai chawl after conducting a nine-hour search at his residence, during which Rs 11.5 lakh in cash was seized, officials said. Interestingly, some of the wads of cash seized from the premises bore the name of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on them.
Raut, 60, was arrested after over six hours of questioning at the ED's zonal office in south Mumbai's Ballard Estate shortly after Sunday midnight. Raut said the arrest was part of a conspiracy going on to weaken Shiv Sena and Maharashtra.
He was taken into custody at 12:05 am on Monday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act as he was not cooperating in the probe, the officials claimed. The Rajya Sabha MP of the Sena, led by former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. A team of ED had on Sunday reached his residence in Mumbai's Bhandup area, where they conducted a search, questioned Raut, and by evening, took him for questioning at the agency's south Mumbai office.
