A Special Court in Mumbai on Monday remanded Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut to ED custody till August 4 in Patra Chawl Land Scam case.
Raut was arrested by Enforcement Directorate earlier today after conducting a nine-hour search at his residence, during which Rs 11.5 lakh in cash was seized.
During the hearing, Raut's lawyer, Advocate Ashok Mundargi told the court that the Sena MP's arrest is politically motivated.
"He is a patient with a heart-related ailment and had also undergone surgery. Papers related to this have been presented before the court,"
The Sena MP was detained after over six hours of questioning at the ED's zonal office in south Mumbai's Ballard Estate shortly after Sunday midnight.
He was taken into custody at 12:05 am on Monday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as he was not cooperating in the probe, ED officials claimed.
Raut was presented in a PMLA court today where the ED sought 8-day custody of the MP.
Before entering the ED office, Raut told media that the federal agency's action was aimed at trying to weaken the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra and that a "false" case was prepared against him.
The ED probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of Patra 'chawl' and related financial property transactions involving his wife and alleged associates.
In April, the central probe agency provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 11.15 crore belonging to his wife Varsha Raut and two of his associates as part of this investigation.
The attached properties are in the form of land held by Pravin M Raut, Sanjay Raut's aide and a former director of Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd, at Palghar, Saphale (town in Palghar) and Padgha (in Thane district).
These assets also include a flat in Mumbai's suburb Dadar held by Varsha Raut and eight plots at Kihim beach in Alibaug jointly held by Varsha Raut and Swapna Patkar, wife of Sujit Patkar, a "close associate" of Sanjay Raut, the ED had said.
(with agency inputs)
