Sanjay Raut's arrest a 'political conspiracy': Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi

Priyanka Chaturvedi. File Pic

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi has condemned party leader Sanjay Raut's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Patra Chawl land scam and claimed the action was politically motivated.

"ED, which is no more Enforcement Directorate but an 'Extended Department' of the Bharatiya Janata Party, is working as part of a political conspiracy and compromising the constitutional institution," she claimed.

When asked about the alleged recovery of Rs 11.5 lakh cash from Raut's house, she said, "Recovering it from a joint family which has three brothers, two daughters and a mother is not unaccounted for cash. All these are source-based stories which ED is known to plant to try to justify the political conspiracy."

Chaturvedi also has given a suspension of business notice in the Rajya Sabha seeking to discuss "misuse of premier investigative agencies by the Central government for political agendas".

"I hereby give notice under Rule 267 of rules of procedure and conduct of business in the Council of States of my intention to move the following motion for the suspension of business/rules on August 1, 2022," wrote Chaturvedi to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.

"That this august House agrees to suspend the listed business of the day to discuss the misuse of the premier investigating agencies, such as Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Income Tax (IT) Department by the Central Government for political agendas and detaining opposition leaders through these agencies in a bid to silence them." she further wrote.

Chaturvedi slammed the Centre for allegedly using central agencies to harass opposition leaders and claimed that the ED action on Raut was an attempt to silence one of the most vocal opponents of the BJP.

Earlier, another FIR was registered against Sanjay Raut in Mumbai for allegedly threatening Swapna Patkar, wife of Sujit Patkar who is considered an aide of the Shiv Sena leader. The case was registered at the Vakola police station under sections 504, 506 and 509 of IPC.

An audio clip had gone viral in which Raut was allegedly heard threatening Swapna Patkar. Notably, Swapna Patkar is a witness in the Patra Chawl land case for which the ED detained Raut on Sunday after conducting a raid at his residence.

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