ACB books Sena (UBT) MLA Rajan Salvi, wife and son in DA case

Aaditya Thackeray's aide Suraj Chavan was arrested by the ED for an alleged scam, while another Thackeray faction leader, MLA Rajan Salvi, faced action by the ACB for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets. Salvi alleges he is being targeted for refusing to leave Uddhav Thackeray and join Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena leaders criticize the government's actions as politically motivated.

MUMBAI: Within 12 hours of Aaditya Thackeray’s aide Suraj Chavan being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for an alleged scam during the Covid-19 pandemic, another Thackeray faction leader, MLA Rajan Salvi, faced action by the state’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). On Thursday, the bureau, after questioning Salvi for nine hours, registered a case against him, his wife Anuja and son Shubham for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets (DA).

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ACB officials said that the Salvi family owned properties worth approximately ₹3.5 crore, around 118 percent disproportionate to their known sources of income. The case against him was registered after raids on his Ratnagiri bungalow, offices and a hotel owned by him. Salvi, who has represented the Rajapur assembly constituency in Ratnagiri district since 2009, alleged that he was being targeted because he refused to leave Uddhav Thackeray and join the chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

“Salvi has been booked under Section 13 (criminal misconduct by a public servant) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988,” said an ACB officer. “His wife and son have been booked under Section 12 (abetment of offences) of the same act since they helped him amass the properties bought with illicit money and thus abetted the crime.”

Salvi has already appeared before the ACB six times at his Alibag office along with family members. “He was unable to give satisfactory answers to our questions regarding the source of income that enabled him to amass the properties,” said an ACB official. “We registered the case after that. We have raided seven premises linked to his family, including his bungalow, his offices and a hotel. We have seized several documents and some digital material, which will be analysed soon.”

Salvi said that the action against him was politically motivated. “I am a victim of political vendetta by the state government,” he told the media. “I refused to leave Uddhav Thackeray and join hands with Shinde, so they are harassing me. I am ready to go to jail but will not succumb to their pressure and will never leave Thackeray.”

Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders slammed the government’s action. “Look at the sequence of events,” said MP Priyanka Chaturvedi. “On January 16, Uddhav Thackeray held a people’s court and exposed speaker Rahul Narwekar’s judgement on legal grounds. The very next night, Suraj Chavan was arrested, and today the ACB has raided the home of Rajan Salvi and detained him. The government was formed by dishonesty and will always be known as a dishonest government.”

Thackeray faction MP Vinayak Raut said that the party totally supported Salvi, who had shown the courage to not bow before the Shinde government. “The action against Salvi is politically motivated, as he refused to join hands with CM Shinde,” he said. “Despite the action, he was courageous enough to say that he would not leave Thackeray. The party stands by him.”