Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut’s wife Varsha Raut, on Monday, 4 January, was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in Mumbai, ANI reported. She was summoned by the agency in connection with the PMC Bank money laundering case.
Varsha was earlier summoned by the ED, on 29 December, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), for allegedly receiving funds siphoned from the bank. This was the third summon that was issued as she had skipped the earlier two, citing health reasons.
According to India Today, the summon was issued in connection with a loan of Rs 55 lakh by Varsha Raut from Madhuri Pravin Raut.
Madhuri Pravin Raut, India Today reported, is the wife of Pravin Raut, the director of a company named Guruashish Constructions, which, on its part, is a subsidiary of Housing Development Infrastructure Limited (HDIL).
What is the Case?
The ED has been probing certain officials in the alleged loan fraud in the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank since October last year, against the Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) for allegedly causing "wrongful loss, prima facie to the tune of Rs 4,355 crore to PMC Bank, and corresponding gains to themselves".
However, Sanjay Raut has claimed that the BJP government is using central agencies to target his family for political vendetta. “Politics is about face-to-face conflict. Targeting women of a household is an act of cowardice”, he had earlier said in a press conference.
(With inputs by ANI and India Today)
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