Mumbai/Alibag: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday questioned Varsha Raut, wife of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut for nearly 10 hours at the agency’s Ballard Estate office and recorded her statement in connection with a money-laundering case pertaining to a redevelopment project in Patra Chawl, Goregaon. According to the ED, Raut’s “front man” Pravin Raut received money from HDIL, a construction company, some of which was reportedly transferred to Varsha Raut. The central probe agency arrested Sanjay Raut on July 31 —a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court remanded him to their custody till August 8 — after investigation allegedly revealed that the Sena spokesperson made huge cash payments to purchase 10 plots in Kihim village in Alibag, bought jointly in the names of Varsha and Swapna Patkar. Swapna is the wife of Raut’s close associate Sujit, and her statement to the ED reportedly talks about cash payments to buy these plots in Alibag.
The Hindustan Times visited the village located in scenic Alibag to report from the ground about the plots in question. Here’s what we found.
To start with, all 10 plots (gat number 110/142) are located adjacent to each other on land designated as ‘non-agricultural’ in Kihim village, a tiny hamlet of around 1800 residents in Alibag taluka in Raigad district about 100 kilometres away from Mumbai. In all, they measure 36.433 gunthas (one guntha, a local term to measure land, is about 1,089 square feet) and are connected by a thin winding mud road.
They were purchased 2010 and 2012 by the Raut family; the documents indicate joint ownership of Varsha Sanjay Raut and Swapna Sujit Patkar. Among the original owners, from whom these plots were purchased, two still have roots in Alibag, while the rest are from Mumbai and Pune. The plots are devoid of any construction, and as such are filled with coconut trees and emerald green grass. A defunct well dots the landscape. In addition to the land that Varsha Raut co-owns, the couple also has a bungalow which is on Nandaipada Road around four kilometres away.
Kihim, once a primarily rice-growing village, became a popular destination among the rich and famous of Mumbai who started buying land in Alibag a few decades ago. Commercial properties including resorts, holiday homes, bungalows and hotels now dot the village. One can see the appeal: barely half a kilometre from the plots lies Kihim beach, with a stunningly dense coconut grove making it one of the most beautiful among all seven beaches in Raigad.
The price of land in this area has shot up significantly in the last 10 years especially after the launch of the Ro-Ro service started a few years ago which has improved accessibility. Kihim, in fact, hardly has any plots left to sell, said local land brokers. One guntha of non-agricultural land, or about a 1,000 sqft, now costs ₹15-25 lakh depending on its proximity to the beach, said Sachin Purav, an independent land broker from Kihim, who has been in the business for the past 25 years. A beachside land would fetch a whopping ₹50 lakh per guntha, local land broker Anil Patil said.
A decade ago, which is when the Rauts bought most of their plots, the price of a guntha of non-agricultural land was around ₹5 lakh, said Purav, who has brokered many deals in the area.
Puzzling questions
According to the Ferfar document, a legal land-related document available on the government website, Raut and Patkar bought the 10 plots of varying sizes at different rates between 2010 and 2012. A look at this document would suggest that the purchase price adhered closely to the government’s ready reckoner rate at that time. However, a close perusal of the legal documents throws up many puzzling questions. For instance, plot number 4 (3.54 gunthas or 359 sq m) was bought for ₹4 lakh in 2010, but the ready reckoner rate has been listed as ₹2.50 lakh. Similarly, plot number 7 (3.41 gunthas or 346 sq m) was bought for ₹4 lakh in 2010, but the ready reckoner rate is listed as ₹2.30 lakh. What’s more, the price of one guntha in the open market at that time was significantly higher as indicated by local land brokers. In 2010, the price of a guntha of land was estimated to be around ₹5 lakh Purav said.
Though the ED has collected several documents about Raut’s properties in Alibag, which the ED alleged were purchased using cash which Raut allegedly got as kickback from the Patra Chawl redevelopment. Raut has so far claimed that there were no cash deals involved in the purchase of the Kihim plots.
On his part, Raut had termed the ED’s actions against him as a “political witch-hunt” by the BJP-led Centre. The BJP formed a government in the state with a rebel faction of the Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, who is now chief minister.
Vinod Shingade, talhati (a revenue department official), Kihim told HT, “ED has not intimated us so far regarding any action or attachment or seizure of the properties belonging to Sanjay Raut or Varsha Raut in our jurisdiction unlike the case of properties of Nirav Modi in which the local administrative body was officially informed. In Raut’s case ED officials have secured copies of all the documents of land dealings of the 10 plots.”
Much coveted land
The who’s who of the country now property in Alibag: the list (not exhaustive by any means) includes Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who owns a house in Thal village, Reliance Industries Limited executive director Nikhil Meswani and his wife Elina, who own a bungalow in Kihim, Ratan Tata, who has a property in Varsoli village, the Godrej family which has a bungalow near the Mandwa jetty, and Ajit Gulabchand of Hindustan Construction company who has a beachfront home in Kamath.
“The trend to sell the land to outsiders took off in the past 30-40 years in Raigad district after it gained popularity and importance due to its beautiful coastal belt, mainly in Alibag. First, the coastal areas of Raigad came to be in high demand. The rate went up. Then the trend spread to other parts of the district as industrial reforms like Special Economic Zone and industrial corridors were put in place,” said anti-land grabbing activist Ulka Mahajan from Sarvahara Jan Andolan, a non-profit organisation.
However, the locals were all too happy to sell their land, though today, it remains well out of reach for the ordinary resident. “In Kihim and Kamath villages that are located on the seashore, more than half the local population have sold off their lands as prices shot up. There are no more big land parcels to sell, and now only small land parcels are being sold off. The old villagers feel no guilt of selling off their old lands as the difference between money earned from rice farming and selling the land is massive,” said Seema Sanket Thale, the 32-year-old sarpanch of Kihim Gram panchayat.