The detention and arrest of senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut by the Enforcement Directorate was a tightly executed operation with strict need-to-know protocol being enforced, and not even the Mumbai Police were brought into the picture till the last minute. On Monday, Raut was produced in court and brought back to the ED office amidst strict police bandobast.
Raut was placed under arrest in the early hours of Monday morning in connection with his alleged involvement in the Patra Chawl redevelopment scam. An ED team had first reached his residence at 7 a.m on Sunday to conduct an exhaustive search, after which he was taken to the ED office in Ballard Estate for questioning. He was officially arrested at around 12.40 a.m. on Monday.
"We received an intimation from the ED after their team reached Raut's residence on Sunday. They asked us to enforce adequate bandobast around their office, saying that they were anticipating some movement later in the day," a senior Mumbai Police officer said.
Multiple teams from the MRA Marg police station sped to the ED office, while paramilitary forces were also alerted. Within the hour, the city police were supplemented by a company of the State Reserve Police Force and the Riot Control Police. Both the approaches to the ED office were cordoned off with metal barricades immediately. In all, close to 200 personnel have been enforcing bandobast at the ED office since Sunday, and the arrangement is expected to stay in place at least till Tuesday, officers said.
"By the time he was taken to the ED office on Sunday, we had realised that an arrest was imminent and had prepared to increase the bandobast. Additional personnel are still on stand by," another officer said.
On Monday morning, Raut's brother Sunil reached ED around 11.30 a.m. and left after around 40 minutes, visibly disturbed. Raut was then taken out through the side exit of the Kaiser-e-Hind building, which houses the ED office, and driven to the JJ Hospital for a medical check up. He was subsequently produced in a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, where he was remanded in police custody till Thursday.
A defiant Raut stuck his hand out of the car window as he was taken back to the ED office after his court apppearance, and waved to a small crowd of his supporters who had gathered there since morning. The private vehicle in which he was seated was flanked on the front and rear by Mumbai Police vehicles. Raut stepped out of the vehicle as it stopped outside the office, his saffron muffler on display, and raised both hands in greeting as he entered the building.
