ED summons witness Swapna Patkar in Rs 1,034 crore Patra chawl case

 

 

 

THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday issued summons to Swapna Patkar, a witness in the Rs 1,034 crore Patra Chawl scam case to join the investigation.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who was recently arrested by the Central agency, is currently in judicial custody. His wife Varsha Raut was also questioned by the ED.

Earlier, the ED had taken Pune businessman Avinash Bhosale into custody in connection with the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) Yes Bank case, and the sources claimed that they wanted to grill Raut in this matter too. Patra Chawl case also has links with the DHFL case, the sources said.

In April, the probe had attached Raut’s property in connection with the land scam.

Property worth Rs 9 crore of Raut’s associate Pravin Raut and assets worth Rs 2 crore belonging to Varsha Raut were attached by the ED. Pravin had eight parcels of land in Alibaug and a flat registered in the name of Varsha Raut which were attached. The ED had arrested Pravin in connection with the matter. “We had filed a chargesheet in the matter against Pravin, Sarang Wadhawan and Rakesh Wadhawan of HDIL and Guru Ashish Construction and others were named as an accused in the chargesheet,” said an ED official. During the probe, the ED learnt that Pravin allegedly paid Rs 55 lakh to Varsha. This was paid from the bank account of Pravin’s wife. The money was termed as proceeds of crime by the ED. It was also alleged that the travel expenses of Sanjay Raut were borne by Pravin which included his hotel stay and air tickets.