ED to probe new Saamna article ‘written’ by Sanjay Raut: Report

Raut is not allowed to write columns or articles while in custody unless permitted by the court

Days after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sent Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut to judicial custody, his weekly column appeared in party mouthpiece Saamna, prompting questions from the ED about whether the MP wrote and passed the piece out of jail illegally.

Raut, incarcerated till August 22 in connection with the Patra Chawl land scam case, is not allowed to write columns or articles while in custody unless permitted by the court, sources told The Times of India, who said that no such permission has been granted to the MP.

The column, with Raut’s byline and photo, hit out at Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who recently said that there would be no money left in Mumbai if Gujaratis and Rajasthanis were excluded.

The piece also slammed the ED, saying “Sugar factories, textile mills and other industries run by Marathi people have been shut down by ED and a web of cases cast around Marathi entrepreneurs. The Governor should talk about this, too.”

Raut was the editor of Saamna before he was sent to custody, after which former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray took over.