Mumbai court extends Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's ED custody till Monday

A Mumbai court on Thursday extended Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till August 8 (Monday). Raut has been in ED custody in connection with a money-laundering case.

The central agency had arrested Raut on Sunday midnight in connection with alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of Patra 'Chawl' (old row tenement) in suburban Goregaon and related financial property transactions involving his wife and alleged associates. The ED had produced Raut before the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court judge MG Deshpande on Monday and sought his remand for eight days. But the court sent the Sena leader to the agency's custody till August 4.

The agency had told the court on Monday that Raut and his family received ''proceeds of crime'' worth over Rs one crore generated out of alleged irregularities in the housing redevelopment project. The 60-year-old Rajya Sabha member is a close aide of Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.