There was pressure on me to betray Sena; landed in jail as I did not pay heed to it: Raut writes to mother

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut who is currently in jail over money laundering charges has claimed that there was pressure on him to betray his party and that he landed in jail as he did not pay heed to itIn a letter to his mother dated August 8 a week after his arrest Raut said Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sainiks were like her own children and till the time he was in jail they would take care of herEveryone is aware that he has been framed under false and bogus charges and statements are extracted from him at gun point Raut allegedRaut was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate ED on August 1 in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of Patra chawl in Mumbai He is currently in judicial custody The ED probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities of Rs 1034 crore pertaining to the redevelopment of the chawl or tenements in suburban Goregaon and related financial transactions allegedly involving his wife and associatesRaut the executive editor of Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana said freedom fighters Lokmanya Tilak and Vinayak Domadar Savarkar had to face similar treatmentLike you the Shiv Sena is also my mother I had pressure to betray my mother the party There were threats not to speak against the government as it will prove costly I did not pay heed to the threat which is why I am away from you the letter which was tweeted on Wednesday saidHe said Uddhav Thackeray who heads one faction of the Shiv Sena is his dear friend and a leader and that it would be difficult to face Sena founder Bal Thackeray if he left Uddhavs side in his trying timesAlso read New symbol may bring big revolution for Uddhavled Shiv Sena Sanjay RautRaut also assured his mother that he will definitely be out of jail as the soul of Maharashtra and the country cannot be killedAt the time of Rauts arrest by the ED his mother had hugged him and sobbed when he was being taken away In two separate rallies held in September and October the Uddhav Thackerayled faction had kept a chair vacant with Rauts name written on it to send a message how strongly the party backs himUddhav and his wife Rashmi have visited Rauts family at different intervals to show their support to himRaut a bitter critic of the Modi government and also one of the architects that helped form the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government under Uddhav Thackeray said without naming the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP that the ones in power want to finish the Shiv Sena and want to trample upon the selfrespect of MaharashtraIn such circumstances it is difficult to be a mute spectator and live like a slave he said adding that Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and Nationalist Congress Party NCP leader Rohit Pawar are being troubledBut this will lead to a revolution and democracy will again take birth Raut saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever