NCP’s Awhad faces third serious charge in three months

Former state minister Jitendra Awhad is in the eye of yet another storm, the third one in three months

Former state minister Jitendra Awhad is in the eye of yet another storm, the third one in three months. The aggressive Mumbra-Kalwa MLA has been accused of taking the law into his hands in two of the three cases.

Thane, India - February 02, 2023: NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad shares information on Maharashtra Sanman Parishad programme in Pune during a press conference, in Thane, India, on Thursday, February 02, 2023. (Praful Gangurde/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

On Wednesday, Awhad was booked along with his supporters for assaulting a Thane assistant municipal commissioner, Mahesh Aher, reportedly for taking action against illegal hawkers. He made serious allegations against Aher, claiming that he was conspiring to kill his daughter Natasha and son-in-law Alan Patel with underworld help. The allegations were based on an audio clip, and Awhad also tweeted a video allegedly featuring Aher counting bundles of bribe money.

Last November, Awhad faced two back-to-back charges. Five months after the change in government, he, along with his party workers, was arrested for forcefully stopping the late-night show of the Marathi movie ‘Har Har Mahadev’ on the grounds that it distorted the history of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji. Within a week, the Thane police booked him on charges of molestation after he allegedly pushed a female BJP office-bearer while trying to make his way through a crowd in Thane city.

In protest, Awhad sent his resignation to state NCP chief Jayant Patil and charged the Shinde-Fadnavis government with attempting to finish off its political opponents. “It was a clear case of framing him in a false case of molestation to dent him politically,” said an NCP worker.

People close to Awhad claim that the cases against him stem from the political bitterness between him and CM Shinde. Awhad’s Mumbra-Kalwa constituency is part of Thane, which is also Shinde’s home turf. The NCP won 34 seats in the Thane municipal corporation in the last elections, and the plethora of run-ins is said to stem from political rivalry. Indeed, in a party meeting on February 1, Awhad had expressed apprehensions that he could be arrested in a “fake case” ahead of the local body elections in Thane.

Commenting on the latest case, Awhad said that the assistant municipal commissioner had given a contract to an underworld don to kill his daughter and son-in-law. “This is not politics, it’s way beyond that,” he said. “My workers, who are accused of beating up Aher, know my daughter since she was a child. They wanted to scare him. We have also filed a complaint against him based on the audio clip, and the police should take action.”