ED opposes Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's bail plea in Patra chawl case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday opposed the bail plea of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, arrested in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in a housing redevelopment project here.

Earlier this month, the Sena leader had filed an application in the special court hearing cases related to Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), saying the case against him was a perfect example of "abuse of power" and "political vendetta".

In the bail plea, the Rajya Sabha member said he has been victimised to forcibly crush the opposition faced by the ruling party.

The ED on Friday filed its written reply before special judge M G Deshpande, in which it opposed Raut's bail.

The details of probe agency's reply were, however, not available yet.

The ED probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of Patra 'chawl' and related financial property transactions involving Raut's 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) had handed over the project of redeveloping the Chawl to Guru Ashish Construction Private Limited (GACPL), a sister company of HDIL (Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd).

GACPL was supposed to build 672 flats for the people there and develop flats for MHDA and sell the remaining land to private developers for GACPL's own development works. However, it has been 14 years since then that the tenant of Patra Chawl awaits their flats.