Will get arrested but won't bow down, says Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut after being detained by ED
MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said he won't bow down and quit the party, shortly before being herded into the south Mumbai office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) whose team conducted a search at his residence in connection with a money laundering case.
"They (ED) are going to arrest me. I am going to be arrested", Raut told reporters outside the ED office after he was brought there from his Bhandup residence here.
"Zukega nahi (won't bow down)", Raut said, putting up a brave front.
He had also tweeted while being taken to the ED office: “You cannot defeat a person who doesn’t accept the defeat. Will not surrender. Jai Maharashtra.”
The ED action follows multiple summons issued by the agency against Raut, the latest being on July 27.
Raut was summoned for questioning by the ED in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the re-development of a Mumbai 'chawl' and related transactions involving his wife and 'associates'.
At 7 am on Sunday, ED officials, accompanied by CRPF personnel, reached Raut's residence and began the searches.
Shortly after 5 pm, he was brought to the ED office.
The Rajya Sabha MP, who is in the Uddhav Thackeray camp, had denied any wrongdoing and alleged that he was being targeted due to political vendetta.
Sanjay Raut said there is a larger conspiracy to weaken Maharashtra and Shiv Sena however he will not surrender and join any political party like other Shiv Sena MLAs have done.
Sanjay Raut said that a fabricated case has been made against him. “BJP wants to frame me by misusing the central agencies against me. They want to suppress my voice. However, I will not surrender and join any political party” said Sanjay Raut on the premises of the ED office.
"I swear by late Balasabheb Thackeray that I have nothing to do with any scam," Raut tweeted shortly after the ED action. I will die but won't leave Shiv Sena," Raut added.
Sanjay Raut said those who are happy about his arrest by ED should distribute sweets. “What kind of people you are (referring to the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena)? Maharashtra has been weakened by these forces and you are celebrating my arrest? History will remember all these things", he said.
Sanjay Raut's brother Sunil Raut who is a Shiv Sena MLA Said that his brother would never surrender even if they hung him.
"My brother Sanjay Raut is a hardcore Shivsainik of Shiv Sena and Balasaheb Thackeray. He will keep fighting till the end. There is a larger plan to isolate Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray in this entire political fight but we will remain with Shiv Sena. We will never leave Uddhav Thackeray,” Sunil Raut said.
Sunil Raut further said that ED searched his brother's residence and premises of properties he owned for more than nine hours but they did not get single documentary evidence against him in connection with the Patra chawl redevelopment project case.
Before leaving his residence with ED officers, Sanjay Raut came down to meet the people who had gathered at his residence. Raut's mother, wife, and sister, who were emotional, thanked people for their support.
(With PTI inputs)