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Congress accuses Pravin Darekar of ₹2,000 crore bank fraud, BJP leader cries harassment
After Kirit Somaiya, the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has turned up the heat on another Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader
After Kirit Somaiya, the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has turned up the heat on another Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader.
Mumbai Regional Congress Committee president Bhai Jagtap on Monday alleged that leader of the opposition in the council Pravin Darekar had committed a ₹2,000 crore fraud in the Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank and demanded his arrest.
Darekar, on the other hand, described the cases against him political vendetta and alleged that he was being harassed by the MVA government.
The issue has also brought differences within the MVA to the fore, with Jagtap alleging that the home department, which was held by the Nationalist Congress Party, was soft-pedaling on taking action against Darekar. Earlier, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut had expressed his disgruntlement at the functioning of the home department.
Jagtap has written to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray demanding that a special investigation team (SIT) be formed by the Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) to probe the alleged fraud.
Addressing a press conference, Jagtap sought Darekar’s arrest and a probe and said he would make this demand to home minister Diip Walse Patil.
On April 4, Darekar was questioned at MRA Marg police station in a case of cheating and fraud filed by AAP functionary Dhananjay Shinde. An FIR was registered on March 14 against Darekar, charging him with forging documents to become a member of a labour cooperative society and contesting the elections to the Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank in the labour category.
In his letter to Thackeray, Jagtap said Nilesh Naik, special auditor, class-I, co-operative bodies, had filed a complaint about the alleged financial irregularities worth ₹2,000 crore in the bank at MRA Marg police station, but an FIR had not been registered even 15 days later.
“The directors have come together to ensure that no case is filed for this economic offence. They have decided to file a writ petition in the high court against this. It is necessary to lodge an offence before this… on one hand, the Darekar gang will commit scams worth crores and since the home department is not taking any action, Darekar will send notices of defamation to his opponents. This is serious,” wrote Jagtap, adding that Darekar had sent him a ₹100 crore defamation notice.
“It is evident that from 2014-15 to 2019-20, financial irregularities of almost ₹2,000 crore took place in the bank and the connivance of chairperson Darekar, the board of directors, and bank officers is evident. Hence, an SIT of the EOW must be formed and the scam must be investigated…” he said.
Jagtap said while Darekar had claimed to be a labourer in his affidavit while contesting the bank elections, he had called himself a businessman/entrepreneur in his affidavit for the council polls.
Meanwhile, Darekar, who was summoned to the police station on Monday for the probe, said the police were acting under pressure from the MVA government.
He said this was in retaliation for the action by Central agencies against ruling party leaders. “This is harassment that is taking place from a sentiment of vengeance. But we will proceed as per the law,” the BJP leader added.