Mumbai: Senior Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut’s brother Sandeep Raut on Tuesday was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the alleged Khichadi scam in the Brihanumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) during the Covid pandemic.
Sandeep was accompanied by Sanjay Raut when he appeared before the probe agency at its South Mumbai office. He called the allegations against him as baseless and 'politically motivated'.
"The allegations against me are baseless and wrong. The whole case is politically driven, nothing else. Sanjay Raut is speaking out against them (BJP-led Centre) and has to be pulled down. This is the motivation behind putting the ED on us. This is being done to pressurise the Raut family," Sandeep Raut said.
The ED has started its money-laundering investigation based on a September 2023 first information report (FIR) of the Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) that alleged there were irregularities worth Rs. 6.37 crore in the case.
Sanjay Raut's close aide Sujit Patkar is also an accused in the case. The ED has already arrested Yuva Sena leader Suraj Chavan, a close aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, in the case.
The EOW of the Mumbai Police in September 2023 had registered a case regarding the 'khichdi' scam against Sujit Patkar, Sunil alias Bala Kadam, Sahyadri Refreshment's Rajiv Salunke and others.
According to the Mumbai Police, the accused did not supply 'khichdi' to the mentioned numbers as per the invoice submitted. Also, the food packets were supposed to be 250 grams, but the contractors distributed only 125 grams of food in those packets.
