BJP ex-mp booked over INS Vikrant fund misuse charge
MUMBAI: Mumbai police have registered a case of cheating against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya and his son Neil Somaiya for alleged misappropriation of around ₹57 crore from funds collected to save aircraft carrier INS Vikrant from scrapping, a police official said on Thursday.
The case against them was filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) based on a complaint lodged by a 53-year-old former army officer on Wednesday evening at the Trombay police station, the official added, asking not to be named.
On Wednesday, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut accused Somaiya of diverting collected from people as donations to save INS Vikrant.
The BJP leader denied the allegations.
Raut kept up his attack on Somaiya on Thursday saying the BJP leader laundered the funds through the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Raut said that the ‘Save Vikrant’ campaign was also launched in other states. “I have only spoken about Maharashtra where about ₹58 crore were collected. They have collected more than ₹200 crore. A chunk of the funds were laundered through PMC Bank, and some of it was also used in the business of Niel Kirit Somaiya,” Raut said.
Somaiya said, “... I have not done anything wrong. Raut has been levelling allegations but has not given any proof. I have not received a copy of the FIR... I dare CM Uddhav Thackeray to give the information available with him (in this case).”
Somaiya however, did not answer a query on whether he collected the money and submitted it to the government.