Amid war of words between former allies Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on crowd-funding drive to save INS Vikrant, the Trombay Police have registered an FIR against BJP leader Kirit Somaiya and his son, Neil, for allegedly siphoning off ₹57 crore that were collected through the campaign to save the country's first aircraft carrier.
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“The case has been registered under section 420 (cheating and dishonesty including delivery of property) and 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 34 (common intentions) of the Indian Penal Code against the Somaiyas on a complaint by an ex-military officer,” a senior officer of the Trombay police station told Hindustan Times on condition of anonymity.
The police officer also noted that as per the FIR, which was registered late last night, the BJP's former MP from Mumbai North-East collected the donation but did not deposit it with the Maharashtra Raj Bhavan.
Reacting to the development, Somaiya said he was ready to face any action. "No scam has taken place, not even worth a rupee in Vikrant fund collection. I have not done anything wrong. Raut has been levelling allegations, but has not given proof to substantiate them. I have not received the copy of the FIR filed in the case. I will keep exposing the Uddhav Thackeray government. I am ready to face the investigation," he said while speaking to the media.
{{/usCountry}}Reacting to the development, Somaiya said he was ready to face any action. "No scam has taken place, not even worth a rupee in Vikrant fund collection. I have not done anything wrong. Raut has been levelling allegations, but has not given proof to substantiate them. I have not received the copy of the FIR filed in the case. I will keep exposing the Uddhav Thackeray government. I am ready to face the investigation," he said while speaking to the media.
{{/usCountry}}However, did not answer whether he collected the money and submitted it to the governor or the government.
On Wednesday, Shiv Sena's Sanajay Raut, who is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a land scam case, accused Somaiya of siphoning off with the money. “A campaign was led by Kirit Somaiya in 2013-14 to collect ₹57 crore from the public to turn INS Vikrant into a museum. This amount was to be deposited with the Raj Bhavan. However, as per an RTI query, the money was never deposited,” Raut said.
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In late 2019, the BJP and the Sena had an acrimonious split after the latter joined hands with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) which currently governs the state, with Sena president Uddhav Thackeray as the chief minister. The coalition has frequently accused the saffron party of trying to topple their government. BJP leaders, too, have often remarked that the party will soon be back in power in the western state.