Patra Chawl Scam: Witness Swapna Patkar Receives Rape Threats

According to the information received from the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Thursday, a witness in the Patra Chawl scam case, Swapna Patkar, who is the wife of Sujit Patkar, a close associate of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, received rape and death threat.

Earlier, Swapna Patkar reached the ED office along with some documents and recorded her statement that is said to be against the Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut. The official informed that in her statement, she mentioned receiving rape and death threats for her statement against Raut in the Patra Chawl case.
A statement of Sujit Patkar was also recorded by the ED.

Recently, a letter was also received by Swapna Patkar in which Swapna is being asked to withdraw her statement or else she will be raped and killed and later, her body will be thrown in the bay.

She is also receiving threats from some international numbers.

After several rape & death threats, Swapna finally filed a written complaint at the Vakola Police Station in Mumbai. She also wrote a letter to Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar.

Shiv Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut did not appear before the ED on Wednesday even after receiving several summonses. ED is probing the land scam case of Rs 1,034 crore.

The Rajya Sabha MP was scheduled to appear for questioning on July 19. However, his lawyer had sought 13-14 days time to present the documents in front of the probe agency but the request was declined by the Agency.

The ED had sent him a second summons to appear before July 1, after he failed to appear in his first summon on Monday due to the then political crisis in Maharashtra.

Raut is being probed in connection with the re-development of Mumbai’s Patra Chawl case.

In April this year, the ED had attached immovable properties worth Rs 11.15 crore, including a flat at Dadar, held by Sanjay Raut’s wife Varsha and eight land parcels at Kihim near Alibag, jointly held by the latter with Swapna Patkar, in connection with the redevelopment scam. Swapna is the wife of Sujit Patkar, a close associate of the Sena leader.

The federal agency said its investigation revealed that around Rs 100 crore was transferred from the real estate company, HDIL, to the account of Pravin Raut, who in turn diverted part of these funds to various accounts of his close associates, family members, and business entities.

Praveen Raut has been a director in an infrastructure company called Guruashish constructions and is stated to be a subsidiary of the HDIL (Housing Development Infrastructure Limited), an accused in the case. Pravin Raut was arrested in the past by the Maharashtra police’s economic offences wing.

The ED’s summons to Raut, who is considered to be a confidant of Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, comes amidst mounting trouble for the party in the wake of internal rebellion. The federal agency has also been probing the Rs 4,300 crore PMC Bank money laundering case against Sanjay Raut’s wife Varsha Raut who was questioned last year under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the central probe agency.

The agency is probing her role in the alleged bank loan scam with regard to the transfer of Rs 55 lakh funds by the wife of an accused in the case, Pravin Raut, apart from some other transactions. (ANI)