Jailed Sena MP Raut seeks bail from special court in money laundering case

Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, arrested last month in a money laundering case linked to a housing project in Mumbai, moved a bail application before a special court here

Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, arrested last month in a money laundering case linked to a housing project in Mumbai, on Wednesday moved a bail application before a special court here.

His bail plea is likely to come up for hearing before judge MG Deshpande, presiding over the special PMLA court, on Thursday. Raut, 60, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in early August under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for his alleged role in financial irregularities related to the redevelopment of Patra 'Chawl' (old row tenements) in suburban Goregaon. The Shiv Sena politician is currently in jail under judicial custody. The Rajya Sabha member was found to be alleged beneficiary of more than Rs 2 crore of the proceeds of crime, the ED has claimed. Further, the central probe agency has claimed documents seized during its probe showed the purchase of properties at Alibaug, a coastal town in neighbouring Raigad district, by Raut involved substantial cash transactions. Raut, a close aide of Shiv Sena president and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, has denied any wrongdoing and dubbed the ED case against him as "false".