Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, who spent 101 days in Arthur Road jail in the Patra Chawl money laundering case, said he was diagnosed with cancer only after coming out of prison, and he suspects that his cancer has roots in jail through ‘slow poisoning’. Raut said Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi had enquired about his health and advised him to get a toxicology test done. Raut claimed that Rahul also told him that ‘with people like us, anything can happen in jail’ and backed the suspicion that Raut was subjected to some kind of poisoning.“10 days ago, Rahul Gandhi met me. During this meeting, he inquired about my illness. He also expressed this suspicion. Rahul Gandhi said that anything can happen to people like us in jail. He has asked me to get a toxicology test done. Rahul Gandhi feels that there is some poisoning in my body. Therefore, he has asked me to get a toxicology test done. The govt is so cruel that it can do anything while in jail. ‘Why should a person like you get such an illness?’ Rahul Gandhi told me. I remember that this illness started while I was in jail,” Raut said.“My cancer originated in prison. I was diagnosed with cancer after coming out of prison,” Sanjay Raut had said in an interview given to a Marathi newspaper in Kolhapur. Later, he was asked if he was subjected to slow poisoning again at a press conference. Raut said “I’m starting to feel that way now.”Raut was arrested on Aug 1, 2022, in connection with the Patra Chawl land case and was released from Arthur Road Jail on Nov 9, 2022, after 101 days. He later documented his prison experiences in his book Narkatla Swarg (Heaven in Hell).Raut has said he was diagnosed with stomach cancer in Nov 2025 and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment at home and in hospital.
