Mumbai police's EOW files closure report in case against Shiv Sena MP Waikar; Oppn targets govt
Mumbai, Jul 6: Months after former Maharashtra minister Ravindra Waikar switched over to Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena from the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, the Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing has filed a closure report in a case against him for alleged irregularities in the construction of a luxury hotel here, an official said on Saturday.
Waikar is currently the MP from Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency. He defeated the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Amol Kirtikar by a thin margin of 48 votes as per the results declared last month.
Once a close aide of Uddhav Thackeray, Waikar joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena in March this year. He was a former standing committee chairman of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a four time corporator and MLA from Jogeshwari for four terms. He was Minister of State for Housing, Higher and Technical Education between 2014 and 2019.
As per the FIR registered against Waikar, he had entered into a contract with the BMC after getting permission to run a sports facility at a plot in Jogeshwari. The permission was granted when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was in power. In early 2023, a notice was issued to him for using the plot of land reserved for a public garden to construct a hotel.
A Crime Branch official said, "The EOW filed a closure report in a court on Thursday in the case registered against Waikar, his wife Manisha and his four close associates. The reason mentioned for closure of the case is incomplete information and misunderstanding."
As per the C-summary report, the complaint filed on behalf of the BMC was based on "incomplete information and misunderstanding". The C-summary report is filed in cases where the FIR is found to be based on a mistake of fact.
Waikar, his wife Manisha, business partners Aasoo Nehlanai, Raj Lalchandani and Prithpal Bindra, and architect Arun Dubey had been booked on the charges of criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy on the complaint filed by BMC sub-engineer Santosh Mandavkar. The case was initially registered at the Azad Maidan police station and the investigation was later transferred to the EOW.
In the wake of the EOW filing the closure report, the opposition targeted the Shinde-led government.
Congress leader Sachin Sawant alleged that the closure of the case against Waikar is another example of political blackmail going on in the state for the last 10 years.
"The chronology of the BJP washing machine is that party leader Kirit Somaiya will level allegations, file a complaint. The probe agencies will then scare the concerned person and his family with raids and investigation. The person will have to join the BJP or its ally and then he will get a clean chit," he claimed.
Sawant also accused the ruling BJP of taking the state's politics to a low level.
"In the Lok Sabha polls, people have cleansed the politics to some extent, but the work is still incomplete. The cleanliness drive of the Maharashtra politics will be complete in the assembly polls," Sawant said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said, "Waikar ran away and left us after getting scared of the probe agencies. Now he has got a clean chit. What else can you expect? BJP should accept that it filed false cases to scare the opponents."
"NCP leader Praful Patel's properties that were attached were released. Even I was arrested over a false case. Why there is a case against me...Just because I am not switching sides," he claimed.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
