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Monday,31-March-2025
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Maharashtra

‘Sanjay Raut laundered proceeds of crime to the tune of over Rs 3 crore’

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The special PMLA court on Monday took cognisance of the charge sheet filed against Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut in connection with the Patra Chawl scam case and extended his judicial custody for 14 more days. In the charge sheet, a copy of which has been handed over to Raut, the Enforcement Directorate has claimed that the Sena leader knowingly indulged in laundering of proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 3,27,85,475. Raut, however, has claimed that he was not even aware about the Patra Chawl redevelopment case and came to know about the same in the past two years after he read about it in news. The ED charge sheet, filed last week before the special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court, also alleged that MHADA didn’t take any effective steps to protect the interest of the tenants.

As per the charge sheet, Raut, who is accused number 5 in the case, was directly involved in the redevelopment of Goregaon’s Siddharth Nagar, also known as Patra Chawl, through his proxy Pravin Raut who is accused number 3 in the case. “He indulged in the project from the stage of conception to execution. During the year 2006-07, Sanjay Raut has attended meetings along with MHADA officers and others for redevelopment of Patra Chawl chaired by the then Union agriculture minister and another meeting chaired by former chief minister. Thereafter, Rakesh Wadhawan [another accused in the case] was brought into the picture to execute the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl Project through M/s Guruashish Construction Pvt Ltd,” the ED stated in the charge sheet.

It further added, “In order to exercise control, Sanjay Rajaram Raut inducted Pravin Raut, his proxy and confidante, as a director in Guruashish Construction Pvt Ltd.” Pravin Raut holds 25 per cent stake in the firm, but the ED claimed that it was just an eye-wash and that Raut managed everything.

The charge sheet also has statements of more than 15 witnesses who confirmed Raut’s involvement in the Patra Chawl scam. It also includes the statement of Swapna Patkar, who was once a family friend of Raut. Patkar has recently filed a complaint against Raut for allegedly threatening her to not give a statement before ED. Patkar in her statement said that during 2008-09, Patra Chawl residents had approached NCP chief Sharad Pawar through one local politician for redevelopment and that after various meetings, Sanjay Raut and Pravin Raut along with Rakesh Wadhawan were asked to handle the project.

As per the terms of the agreement between the society and MHADA, the development authority was to rehabilitate 672 tenants in 767-sqft flats and the developer was entitled to develop sale component flats on the land belonging to MHADA. However, Guruashish Construction Pvt Ltd sold the FSI for Rs 1,034 crore before completing its obligation. The amount was transferred to the parent company viz HDIL. “Investigation into the money trail also revealed that Pravin Raut received around Rs 112 crore in his bank account from HDIL and further transferred the same in acquiring assets, diverting in the account of his business entity, family members etc. Thus, Sanjay Raut is knowingly involved,” ED has claimed.

disaster

Mumbai’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sudhakar Pathare, who was posted in the Port Zone, passed away in a road accident on Saturday.

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Pathare had visited Hyderabad for training. He was on his way to visit a temple with a relative when the accident occurred. Both Pathare and his relative lost their lives in the crash.

Mumbai Police have been informed about the incident.

More details are awaited.

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Maharashtra

Order to demolish the tomb of Hazrat Syed Bale Shah Baba in Mira Bhayander

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Mumbai: The state government has issued an order to demolish the four hundred year old dargah of Hazrat Syed Bale Shah Peer Rahmatullah Alaih located in Mira Bhayander. Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation has sent a letter to the collector declaring this dargah illegal and ordered action against it. As the dargah is located on forest land, communalists had started demanding the demolition of the dargah. In the House, Darranjan Daukhre had also demanded action against the dargah, after which now the state government has ordered to run a bulldozer on the dargah. An order has also been issued to remove and demolish the dargah by May.

Dargah trustee Amjad Sheikh said that this dargah is ancient and this order is illegal in itself. In this case, communal forces had launched a campaign against the dargah, after which this order was issued.

There is a dargah on the beach and citing the threat of terrorist and illegal activities and the presence of terrorists here, there was a demand to demolish the dargah. The dargah is close to the sea and in such a situation, the threat of a terrorist attack on Mumbai from the sea has been expressed, while the dargah administration has clearly denied this and said that communal organizations are running their agenda against the dargah and there is no such threat. Muslims have opposed this decision of the government and Muslims have also expressed their displeasure and anger over it.

The trustee says that this dargah is ancient and earlier the collector and the municipal corporation had given a notice, after which the illegal shed and other premises were demolished here and the dargah administration has taken this action at its own level. Now an order has been issued to demolish the dargah itself.

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Maharashtra

Haji Ali Dargah will be closed for pilgrims for a few hours on Eid due to rising sea level

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Mumbai: Due to rising sea level at Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai, the dargah will be closed for pilgrims for a few hours on Eid. On March 31, the dargah will be closed for pilgrims from 12 noon to 3 pm. During this time, entry of pilgrims to the dargah will be restricted. The dargah will be closed on Tuesday, April 1 from 12:45 pm to 3:45 pm and on Wednesday, April 2 from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm.

Therefore, we have appealed to the pilgrims not to gather at the dargah during these hours. This information has been released by Tahir, administrative officer of Haji Ali Dargah. Pilgrims visit Haji Ali Dargah on Eid-Basi and Tiwasi, but due to the rising water level of the sea, water gets accumulated on the way to the Dargah and entry to the Dargah is prohibited and the gate of the Dargah remains closed during these days, due to which there is a lot of crowd there. Therefore, pilgrims have been requested to come to the Dargah only at the scheduled time.

The police also remains vigilant at the Dargah during the rising sea level, as there is a crowd of pilgrims here during Eid and festivals. The Haji Ali Dargah administration has said that on the occasion of Eid, lakhs of pilgrims visit the Dargah of Haji Ali (RahmatullahAlaih). These pilgrims include pilgrims from the country and abroad, so the Dargah administration has also claimed special security arrangements on Eid. Spiritual scenes are also seen at Haji Ali Dargah during Eid prayers.

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