Images have emerged showing Uddhav Thackeray greeting Sanjay Raut's mother
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Chief Uddhav Thackeray today met the family of party MP Sanjay Raut, who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged land scam case.
Uddhav Thackeray, who shares a close bond with Sanjay Raut, met his mother, wife Varsha Raut and other family members at the Shiv Sena MP's residence in Mumbai's Bhandup.
Images have emerged showing Mr Thackeray greeting Mr Raut's mother and interacting with his family members at his home in Bhandup along with party MP Arvind Sawant, MLA Ravindra Waikar and Sena leader Milind Narvekar.
"We have to wipe out whoever speaks against us - a vendetta politics with such a mindset is going on," Mr Thackeray said, speaking to the media after the meeting.
Last evening, Mr Raut was seen hugging his mother and touching her feet just before he was taken away by the ED officials to the probe agency's zonal office in south Mumbai's Ballard Estate for questioning.
The Rajya Sabha MP was arrested at midnight under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), after hours of questioning.
Before entering the ED office, Mr Raut, who is in Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena camp, had claimed that the probe agency's action was aimed at trying to weaken the Shiv Sena and that a "false" case was prepared against him.
The agency wants to question Mr Raut over the re-development of a chawl in Mumbai and related transactions involving his wife and close associates.
The Sena leader was questioned on July 1. He was then summoned on July 20, but he cited the ongoing parliament session. He was again called on July 27, but he didn't turn up.