PremiumThe ED officials said that the attachment is linked to a money laundering probe linked to a ₹1,034 crore worth land 'scam' related to the re-development of a 'chawl' in Mumbai
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NEW DELHI : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued a provisional attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to freeze eight land parcels in Alibaug and a flat in Mumbai's Dadar suburb linked to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and his family, the officials informed.
The ED officials said that the attachment is linked to a money laundering probe linked to a ₹1,034 crore worth land 'scam' related to the re-development of a 'chawl' in Mumbai.
The ED had arrested Maharashtra-based businessman Pravin Raut in this case in February and later filed a chargesheet too. The ED had also arrested Maharashtra Minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik in connection with the Dawood Ibrahim money laundering case.
The agency had also questioned Sanjay Raut's wife Varsha Raut last year in connection with another money laundering case linked to the PMC Bank fraud case and for her purported links with Pravin Raut's wife Madhuri.
In March the Mumbai Police had begun an investigation of criminal syndicate and extortion racket by a nexus of the ED officials, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said on Tuesday.
SIT to probe extortion allegations raised by Sanjay Raut against some ED officers
The Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil informed on Tuesday that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the allegations of extortion raised against some Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers by Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut.
“The SIT has been formed under an officer named Veeresh Prabhu. We have given the SIT the time required to probe the matter," he told reporters.
Raut had alleged in a press conference last month that some Enforcement Directorate officers were acting as an “ATM" for the BJP. He had also said the Mumbai Police were probing extortion charges against four officers of the Central agency and some of them will go to jail.
The Sena MP didn't reveal any names while making the allegations. “In the last few years, some ED officials and agents have been involved in extortion, threatening builders and corporates. I have passed on this information to the prime minister," he had said.
The Shiv Sena heads the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of which NCP and Congress are constituents. Notably, the announcement of the SIT came against the backdrop of reports that Shiv Sena leadership felt that the NCP was going "soft" on the BJP.
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