Swapna Patkar Alleges Threats in Patra Chawl Money-Laundering Case Involving Sanjay Raut
Swapna Patkar, a key witness in the money-laundering case related to Goregaon’s Patra Chawl, has written a letter to the Additional Director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Mumbai. She alleges that she is being threatened and pressured to change her statements given during the investigation.
In her letter, Patkar stated, “I would like to bring it to your notice that the accused in the case and his touts/goons are constantly indulging in the witness threatening/tampering with me and may be with others as well. I am continuously being threatened and being pressurised to change my statements given during the investigations, I am also being pressurised for title of some lands and properties in the name of one accused, Sanjay Raut and his family members.”
Previously, Patkar lodged a complaint with the Vakola police in Mumbai, reporting that someone threw a bottle into her residence with a threatening letter inside. The letter, written in Marathi, warned her against raising her voice in court.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut is an alleged accused in the case. On June 28, 2022, Raut was summoned by the ED in connection with the Rs 1034 crore Patra Chawl land scam. The redevelopment project, initiated in 2008, involved 672 tenants and was managed by Guru Ashish Construction Private Limited, a sister concern of Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL). The developers misled authorities and sold the FSI to nine developers, collecting approximately Rs 901.79 crore without constructing the promised housing units for the tenants and MHADA.
Doubts Revealed
Swapna Patkar -: Swapna Patkar is a person who is helping the police by giving information about a crime. She is called a witness.
Patra Chawl -: Patra Chawl is a place in Mumbai where people live. It is involved in a case where money was used wrongly.
Money-Laundering -: Money-laundering is when people try to hide where money really came from, usually because it was earned in a bad way.
Sanjay Raut -: Sanjay Raut is a politician in India. He is accused of being involved in the money-laundering case.
Enforcement Directorate -: The Enforcement Directorate is a government agency in India that looks into financial crimes, like money-laundering.
Redevelopment project -: A redevelopment project is when old buildings are rebuilt or fixed up to make them better. In this case, the project was supposed to help people living in Patra Chawl.
Misappropriated -: Misappropriated means using money in the wrong way, especially money that was meant for something good.
672 tenants -: Tenants are people who live in a building that they do not own. In this case, 672 tenants were affected by the misuse of money in the redevelopment project.
