The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday called for a probe into the financial transactions of water resources minister Sunil Tatkare and his associates in the last five years, conducted through various companies and investments in public and private firms.
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya met additional commissioner of police, Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Rajvardhan Sinha, and submitted an application to investigate the alleged financial irregularities in the companies owned by water resources minister Sunil Tatkare’s family members and associates. Somaiya submitted various documents to the EOW. Sinha said the application was received and the EOW was perusing the documents.
Somaiya made his point by referring to two specific violations by Tatkare-controlled companies — transactions with a banned company by Multiventure Agro and Infrastructure Private Limited, and money laundering by Next Technologies.
The application also names 10 associates, including Tatkare’s son Aniket, daughter Aditi, daughter-in-law Vedanti, and gardener Kiran Sarange, in whose name companies were set up to conceal the actual beneficiaries and investors. Sarange, Tatkare’s 19-year-old gardener, has nine companies in his name, the complaint states.
“The government should probe the entire dealings of Tatkare and his associates, whereby incorporated entities, both listed and unlisted, have been used to launder money and to buy land. I have pointed out several blatant irregularities, like his 19-year-old gardener Kiran Sarange having nine companies in his name,” Somaiya said after the meeting.
{{/usCountry}}“The government should probe the entire dealings of Tatkare and his associates, whereby incorporated entities, both listed and unlisted, have been used to launder money and to buy land. I have pointed out several blatant irregularities, like his 19-year-old gardener Kiran Sarange having nine companies in his name,” Somaiya said after the meeting.
{{/usCountry}}The complaint has, however, created a flutter in political circles, as the Thackerays have now figured in the controversy.
Two of the 79 companies in the list released by Somaiya earlier — Kamod Traders Private Limited and Padminish Exim Private Limited — have Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray’s wife Rashmi and son Aditya as directors. Another two firms — Venue Infra-Projects Private Limited and Siddhesh Realty Private Limited — have Rashmi Thackeray’s brother Shridhar Patankar as one of the directors.
Somaiya clarified his stance, and said, “I have released names of hundreds of companies, not just these 79, over time. I do not have all the information on all these companies. I am going to give instances of 10 specific cases to the government to show examples of wrongdoing, and how money laundering is being done by Tatkare.”
“Tatkare has dealings with well-known corporate houses, but that doesn’t make all of them illegal. This has nothing to do with the Thackerays — it is just diverting from the main issue,’’ he added.
Tatkare could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
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