The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has asked Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s wife Varsha to appear before it today in connection with the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank scam case.
News agency ANI reported that this is the third summons sent to the Sena leader’s wife. She had skipped the earlier two summons citing ill health, ANI further reported.
In September last year, the RBI had capped the withdrawal limit and restricted the activities of the PMC Bank after an alleged fraud of Rs 4,355 crore came to light.
The Enforcement Directorate had later seized and identified movable and immovable assets worth more than Rs 3,830 crore owned by Housing Development Infrastructures Ltd (HDIL) in connection with the case.
Raut, meanwhile, called the summons an act of cowardice.
“Targeting women of a household is an act of cowardice. We are not scared of anyone and will respond accordingly. ED needed some papers and we have submitted them in time,” Raut said at a press conference on Monday.
“In the last one year, Sharad Pawar, Eknath Khadse and Pratap Sarnaik got notices and now all of you are discussing my name. All these people are crucial for government formation in Maharashtra. These are pieces of paper, nothing else,” he added.
The Shiv Sena leader also claimed that he has a list of “120 BJP leaders who are fit case for a probe by the ED for money laundering”.
Yuva Sena president and state minister Aaditya Thackeray termed the ED action “politically motivated”.
