Uddhav Thackeray meets Sanjay Raut's family hours after close aide's arrest

Shiv Sena president and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday paid a visit to family members of party MP Sanjay Raut, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) late on Sunday night in a money laundering case.

Thackeray went to Raut's residence in Bhandup, in suburban Mumbai, along with party MP Arvind Sawant, MLA Ravindra Waikar and Sena leader Milind Narvekar.

According to reports, Thackeray met with Raut's elderly mother, wife, daughters and other family members at the MP's residence. Raut, a close aide of Thackeray, is also the editor of the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

After the meeting, Thackeray held a press conference were he slammed Raut's arrest, calling it vendetta politics. "Those who don't surrender are being framed into one case or other," he said.

“As Gadkari said politics is becoming disgusting… We have to wipe out whoever speaks against us - a vendetta politics with such a mindset is going on,” the Sena supremo said.

Earlier in the day, Raut's brother and party MLA Sunil Raut said Thackeray is firmly behind the family of the arrested leader.

The ED arrested Raut in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of a Mumbai 'chawl' after conducting a nine-hour search at his residence, during which ₹11.5 lakh in cash was seized.

Raut had denied the allegations and said he was framed owing to political vendetta.

(With agency inputs)