ED running criminal syndicate on behalf of BJP leaders: Sanjay Raut

On Tuesday, Raut had written a letter to Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu claiming that law enforcement agencies like the ED have been “let loose” against leaders of his party since it ended its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“I can understand their pain since the MVA government came to power in Maharashtra. They should fight political battles. They (BJP) run criminal syndicates now. The ED and other agencies have become part of the BJP or its master’s criminal syndicate. The letter is not even a trailer, which is yet to come. This letter is to show how the ED people run the syndicate… like how they are conducting their own financial fraud such as money laundering, blackmail and threats. I will prove this with evidence,” Raut said.

He also claimed that the ED was harassing vendors who had provided services during his daughter’s wedding and were pressuring them to incriminate him.

“The florist and decorator from my daughter’s wedding were picked up by ED officials. Is this their job? The decorator replied to them that he did not take any money because he had a good relationship with my family. But he was threatened with a gun,” Raut said.

Raut, in his letter to Naidu, had claimed that the ED and other agencies personnel are summoning, intimidating and threatening the decorators and other vendors of the wedding of his daughter.

“The ED and other agencies have unlawfully picked up 28 people so far. They have made them attend the ED office and sit in a cabin where the threats are administered…In fact, some of the ED and other agencies personnel even confessed to the very people they are summoning that they have been asked by their ‘bosses’ to ‘fix’ me,” Raut wrote in the letter.

“Enforcement Directorate personnel are leaving no stone unturned to intimidate/harass our legislators, MPs, political leaders as well as their relatives, friends and acquaintances,” he added.

The Sena leader also claimed that he “was approached by certain people” about a month back who asked him to assist them in toppling the Maharashtra government so that midterm elections can be held. “I refused to be a party to any such clandestine agenda which was being pursued upon which I was warned that my refusal could lead to my paying a very heavy price. I was even told that my fate could be like that of a former Union railway minister who spent many years behind bars,” Raut mentioned in the letter.

Raut told the media on Wednesday that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s family was also being harassed.

Raut also took a swipe at Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis. “Every day, some drunkard wakes up and begins to talk crazy, and ED takes action against the people he mentions. I have said in the past that if we break into your home, you won’t be able to go to Nagpur,” said the Sena leader.

He further said that he would soon hold a press conference outside the ED office in Mumbai and would “unmask them”.