‘Efforts to break Shiv Sena will not succeed’: Sanjay Raut

Mumbai, Aug 01: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, before entering the court room, assured the supporters in the court corridor that the efforts being made to break the party will not succeed.

"It's a conspiracy to finish us. But we will keep fighting," Sanjay Raut told reporters before entering court.

The ED arrested Sanjay Raut late in Sunday night in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of a Mumbai 'chawl' after conducting a search at his residence, during which Rs 11.5 lakh in cash was seized.

An agency team had on Sunday reached his residence in Mumbai's Bhandup area, where they conducted a search, questioned Raut, and by evening, summoned him for questioning at the agency's local office.

The ED probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of Patra 'chawl' and related financial property transactions involving his wife and alleged associates.

In April, the ED provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 11.15 crore belonging to his wife Varsha Raut and two of his associates as part of this investigation.

The attached properties are in the form of land held by Pravin M Raut, Sanjay Raut's aide and a former director of Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd, at Palghar, Saphale (town in Palghar) and Padgha (in Thane district).

These assets also include a flat in Mumbai's suburb Dadar held by Varsha Raut and eight plots at Kihim beach in Alibaug jointly held by Varsha Raut and Swapna Patkar, wife of Sujit Patkar, a "close associate" of Sanjay Raut, the ED had said.

The agency is understood to have questioned the Sena leader about his "business and other links" with Pravin Raut and Patkar and also about the property deals involving his wife.