India
pti-PTI
Mumbai,
Sep
19:
New
evidences
suggest
Shiv
Sena
MP
Sanjay
Raut
may
have
played
a
crucial
role
in
siphoning
off
proceeds
of
crime
(POC)
in
the
case
pertaining
to
alleged
financial
irregularities
in
a
housing
project
in
suburban
Mumbai,
the
Enforcement
Directorate
(ED)
has
claimed
in
its
supplementary
charge-sheet.
The
ED
also
claimed
the
Sena
leader
(60),
currently
in
jail,
along
with
other
officials
associated
with
the
redevelopment
of
Patra
Chawl
(chawls
are
rows
of
tenements/tiny
apartments),
was
present
at
a
meeting
called
by
the
then-chief
minister
in
2007
to
discuss
the
financial
implication
of
the
multi-crore
project.
The
anti-money
laundering
agency
arrested
the
Rajya
Sabha
member
on
August
1
in
connection
with
alleged
financial
irregularities
in
the
redevelopment
of
Patra
Chawl
in
suburban
Goregaon.
It
had
last
week
filed
a
supplementary
charge-sheet
naming
Sanjay
Raut
as
an
accused
in
the
case.
The
ED
probe
pertains
to
alleged
financial
irregularities
in
the
redevelopment
of
Patra
Chawl
and
related
property
transactions
involving
his
wife
and
alleged
associates.
Siddharth
Nagar,
popularly
known
as
Patra
Chawl,
is
an
area
located
in
Goregaon,
a
northern
Mumbai
suburb.
It
housed
nearly
672
homes
spread
over
47
acres
of
land.
In
2008,
the
Maharashtra
Housing
and
Development
Authority
(MHDA)
handed
over
the
project
of
redeveloping
the
chawl
to
Guru
Ashish
Construction
Pvt
Ltd
(GACPL),
a
sister
company
of
HDIL
(Housing
Development
and
Infrastructure
Ltd).
GACPL
was
supposed
to
build
672
flats
for
people
there
and
apartments
for
state
housing
agency
MHDA
and
sell
the
remaining
land
to
private
developers
for
the
private
company’s
own
development
works.
The
company
neither
redeveloped
the
chawl
nor
built
any
flats
that
was
to
be
handed
over
to
MHADA
and
sold
land
parcels
and
the
Floor
Space
Index
(FSI)
to
other
builders
for
Rs
1,034
crore.
GACPL
instead
launched
its
own
project
called
‘The
Meadows’ and
took
booking
amounts
totalling
Rs
138
crore
from
flat
buyers.
FSI
is
the
maximum
area
that
can
be
constructed
on
a
plot
of
land.
For
instance,
if
one
has
1,000
square
feet
of
land
on
which
wants
to
build
a
residential/commercial
building
and
the
FSI
in
that
locality
is
1.5,
then
he
can
build
up
to
1,500
sq
ft
of
covered
structures
on
the
plot.
The
ED
claimed
Pravin
Raut,
a
close
associate
of
Sanjay
Raut,
and
other
directors
of
GACPL
misled
MHADA
and
also
the
Maharashtra
government,
and
sold
the
FSI
to
other
real
estate
developers
for
Rs
901.79
crore
and
never
completed
the
project
they
were
handed
over.
The
central
agency
said
though
on
paper
an
agreement
was
executed
for
the
interest
of
three
parties,
only
interest
of
Wadhwans
(HDIL
promoters
Rakesh
and
Sarang
Wadhawan)
were
protected
as
a
result
of
which
generated
benefits
of
around
Rs
1,000
crore
were
diverted
in
a
systematic
manner
to
their
group
companies
instead
of
utilizing
the
same
for
the
chawl
project.
“On
the
basis
of
new
evidences
that
have
surfaced,
it
appears
Sanjay
Raut
may
have
also
played
a
major
role
along
with
other
accused
due
to
which
POC
(proceeds
of
crime)
were
siphoned
off
instead
of
utilization
of
the
same
for
the
tenants
and
other
buyers
who
had
booked
their
flats
with
developers
and
put
their
hard
earned
money,”
the
ED
claimed
in
the
charge-sheet.
However,
Sanjay
Raut
told
the
ED
he
had
no
knowledge
about
the
Patra
Chawl
project
and
came
to
know
about
it
through
media
reports
published
in
the
past
two
years.
The
Rajya
Sabha
MP
has
also
denied
having
entered
into
any
financial
or
business
transaction
with
Pravin
Raut,
who
as
per
the
probe
agency,
was
working
as
a
“front
man” for
the
politician.
The
Sena
leader
has
claimed
he
does
not
know
Rakesh
Kumar
Wadhwan,
Sarang
Wadhwan
(HDIL
promoters)
and
Nippun
Thakkar,
all
accused
in
the
case.
The
Member
of
Parliament
has
said
he
did
not
have
any
knowledge
about
the
involvement
of
Pravin
Raut
in
the
Patra
Chawl
redevelopment.
Sanjay
Raut
has
said
he
was
not
directly
involved
in
any
real
estate
project,
but
his
wife
Varsha
Raut
along
with
Madhuri
Raut,
spouse
of
Pravin
Raut,
had
got
associted
with
Avni
Construction
and
Auri
Infrastructure
which
intended
to
develop
some
buildings,
which
as
per
his
knowledge,
were
supposed
to
be
outside
Mumbai.
On
the
recovery
of
Rs
11
lakh
in
cash
from
his
residence
in
suburban
Bhandup,
the
Sena
leader
said
it
was
contributed
by
Shiv
Sena
workers
for
their
Ayodhya
visit
in
the
first
week
of
June
2022.
On
foreign
trips,
Sanjay
Raut
said
Swapna
Patker,
a
witness
in
the
case,
told
him
they
were
planning
to
visit
China
and
Hong
Kong.
Sanjay
Raut
said
he
had
not
negotiated
with
any
land
owners
at
Kihim
village
in
Alibag
taluka
for
buying
their
land.
Swapna
Patker
at
that
time
came
with
the
idea
to
build
a
hotel
or
restaurant
at
Kihim
village
in
Alibaug,
a
coastal
town
in
adjoining
Raigad
district,
he
has
told
the
central
agency.
Sanjay
Raut’s
lawyer
Vikrant
Sabne
said,
“In
view
of
the
charge-sheet,
the
ED
should
answer
that
if
(Sena
MLA)
Pratap
Sarnaik
has
been
discharged
on
the
basis
of
reports
filed
by
the
prosecution
in
the
principal
offence,
then
in
the
judicial
order
of
March
21,
2020,
a
similar
undertaking
was
given
by
the
prosecution
in
Patra
Chawl
case
in
favour
of
Pravin
Raut
and
on
the
basis
that
Pravin
was
released
on
bail.”
“This
order
is
not
yet
challenged,
then
the
question
arises
if
Sarnaik
has
been
discharged
why
similar
relief
should
not
be
granted
to
(Sanjay)
Raut
as
equality
before
law
is
the
basis
of
our
judicial
system,” the
lawyer
added.
The
chief
metropolitan
magistrate’s
court
had
on
Wednesday
last
accepted
the
closure
report
filed
by
the
Mumbai
police’s
Economic
Offences
Wing
(EOW)
in
a
case
against
Topsgrup
Services
and
Solution
Ltd.
It
was
this
case,
based
on
which,
the
ED
had
lodged
a
money
laundering
case
agianst
Sarnaik.
Meanwhile,
the
daughter
of
a
property
owner
in
Alibag,
in
her
statement
to
the
ED,
has
claimed
her
father
had
purchased
1
acre
of
land
in
1995
and
constructed
a
bungalow
and
in
the
rest,
he
had
made
approximately
16
plots.
Her
father
sold
7
to
8
plots
to
some
persons
and
the
remaining
plots
were
forcibly
acquired
by
Sanjay
Raut,
she
told
the
agency.
The
witness
further
said
her
father
had
no
intention
to
sell
the
land
in
Kihim
(in
Alibag),
but
it
was
sold
due
to
threatening
calls
received
from
workers
of
Sanjay
Raut.