Special PMLA Court Orders 10-Day Judicial Custody For Sanjay Raut's Close Aide Sujit Patkar

The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) special court in Mumbai has ruled that Sujit Patkar, a close aide to Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last month, be placed in judicial custody.

On Tuesday, Patkar appeared before the special PMLA judge MG Deshpande at the conclusion of his second ED remand, during which he reported no complaints of ill-treatment by ED officers.

The ED emphasized in its remand application that the investigation into the tracing of Proceeds of Crime (PoC) was at a crucial stage and sought a 14-day judicial custody for Patkar to prevent any interference that could hinder further probe into the fraud and money-laundering case.

According to the ED's investigation, Sujit Patkar incorporated Lifeline Management Services with an investment of a mere Rs 12,500, just a week before securing a contract for supplying manpower to BMC Jumbo Covid Centres at Worli and Dahisar. He allegedly received payments of Rs 31.84 crore by submitting fake and fabricated bills, which were approved by Dr. Bisure, indicating inflated manpower deployment at the Covid Centres.

It is alleged that Patkar siphoned over Rs 22 crore out of the total Rs 31.84 crore received from BMC into shell companies to provide kickbacks to senior BMC officials and political leaders.