ED interrogated decorator of my daughter's wedding at gunpoint: Sanjay Raut

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said that Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials interrogated the florist and decorator of his daughter’s wedding at gunpoint. Raut said that he would soon unmask the ED and hold a press conference outside the ED office in Mumbai. Raut said that there was pressure on him to join hands to topple the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra.
"The florist and decorator at my daughter's wedding was picked up by ED officials. Is this their job? When asked how much money he got, the decorator said that he did not take any money because he had a good relationship with my family. That girl (Raut’s daughter) has grown up in front of me, they are like my family..he told them (ED officials) how he could take money. But he was threatened with a gun. What is this? This is Mumbai and Shiv Sena is the dada in Mumbai," said Raut.
Raut’s daughter Purvashi Raut got married in November last year.
"I can understand their pain since the MVA government came to power in Maharashtra. They should fight a political battle. They (BJP) are running a criminal syndicate. Currently, the ED and other agencies have become part of the criminal syndicate of the BJP or their masters. The letter is not even a trailer, the trailer is yet to come. The letter is written for information only on how the people of ED run the syndicate, how they have their own financial scams, like money laundering, blackmail, intimidation and their recovery agents are active, I will prove this with evidence, ” Raut said.
In a letter to vice-president and Rajya Sabha Chairperson Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday, Raut said that there was ‘misuse/ abuse of power by law enforcement agencies such as ED and other agencies against Members of Parliament, their relatives, friends, acquaintances, etc.” Raut's letter follows in the wake of the ED conducting raids at the premises of his close aide a few days ago.
Raut said that leaders and legislators of the Sena have been “systematically targeted” by “using” law enforcement agencies such as the ED. Raut claimed ED officials were ‘leaving no stone unturned to intimidate/harass’ Sena leaders. "We have a right to have our own ideology which may not be in tandem with that of the political party…that doesn’t mean that our legislators, MPs, their family members, friends and acquaintances are threatened and harassed under the garb of conducting investigation, or even arrested in cases of alleged money laundering," Raut said in his letter to Naidu.
"Transactions which are decades old and have nothing to do with money laundering are taken up for investigation with the ulterior motive of harassing and terrorising political opponents," Raut added.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Raut said that some people had visited him with the intention of overthrowing the Maharashtra government for holding mid-term elections in Maharashtra. Raut also said that he was being threatened for refusing to take this offer of pulling down the MVA government, so that he would not speak freely in the Rajya Sabha.
Raut said that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s family was also being harassed. Raut also attacked opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis and said that Fadnavis knew what Raut was talking about and what he meant.
"Every day some drunkard wakes up and starts blabbering like crazy, then ED takes action against the people named by him. I had said in the past that if we break into your house, you will not be able to go to Nagpur," Raut said in a veiled attack on Fadnavis without naming him.
Raut said that Mumbai police must investigate ED officials. "Forced bullying is being done. Central agencies are illegally detaining people in Maharashtra. Mumbai Police should take action against them. These outsiders are taking contracts and then they detain and threaten people for two days. They should be charged. There are some who also have filed FIRs against them," said Raut.
"Who are the facilitators? They go to the ED office…BJP leaders sit there illegally, give them information and orders. I am appealing to Fadnavis. He knows what I mean...I will soon take a press conference outside the ED office in Mumbai," Raut said.