ED summons to Sanjay Raut’s wife politically motivated: Aaditya Thackeray

Mumbai: Yuva Sena president and Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray on Monday termed “politically motivated” the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to wife of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut.

The ED summoned Varsha Raut for questioning in the PMC Bank money laundering case on December 29, officials had said on Sunday.

“The ED move is politically motivated. We are not scared. The MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) government is stable,” Aaditya, son of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, told reporters when asked about the ED summons.

The ED officials had said that Varsha Raut has been asked to appear before the federal agency in Mumbai. This is the third summons issued to her after she skipped the earlier two on health grounds, they said.

The summons for questioning has been issued to her under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED wants to question Varsha Raut with regard to “receipt” of some funds that were allegedly siphoned from the bank, official sources had claimed.

The ED had filed a PMLA case to probe the alleged loan fraud in the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank in October last year against the Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), its promoters Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan and his son Sarang Wadhawan, its former chairman Waryam Singh and ex-managing director Joy Thomas.