Four FIRs put politicians in the dock for extorting Palghar builders

Govind Gunjalkar, NCP

Between Friday night and early Saturday morning, a series of FIRs were registered against various politicians, including one from Shiv Sena and one from NCP, at police stations across Palghar district. The FIRs, filed by various developers and builders (whose identity is being protected) have accused the said politicians of filing RTIs and using the said information to extort money from them.

The police have booked Sena corporator from Nalasopara (E) Dhananjay Gawade in three cases. Apart from him, several others connected to various political parties (that have not yet been identified) have been named in a total of four FIRs filed at Virar, Nalasopara and Tulinj police stations in Palghar.

Dhananjay Gawade from Shiv Sena

The first FIR, filed at Virar police station, names Gawade, Ramesh More, Shraddha Jadhav, Uday Jadhav and an Ashok Dube for extorting a total of Rs 36 lakh from a 49-year-old builder between October 2016 and March 2018. The police have arrested More and Jadhav so far in the case, officials said. In all the cases, it has been alleged, that the accused used information derived from RTI, which showed any lapses that might have occurred in meeting construction laws to extort the builders. The accused would threaten to go public with the said information in the newspapers and demolish the buildings or halt construction unless the money demanded had been paid.

Uday Jadhav

In the second case, a builder, also a former corporator and Shiv Sena office bearer, filed a case at the Nalasopara police station alleging that the Vasai-Virar president for NCP, Govind Gunjalkar, and his accomplices extorted Rs 5 lakh from him in August 2017. In the third FIR at Tulinj police station, Gawade and others have been booked for threatening a 43-year-old builder at gun point and demanding a total of R50 lakh between June 2015 to February 2016 for withdrawing a PIL filed in the court. While in the fourth case, the Tulinj police had booked Gawade and a Nitin Patil for extorting Rs 30 lakh from a 50-year old-builder. All the complainants operate in the Palghar area.

Shraddha Jadhav

Additional superintendent of police, Rajtilak Roshan said they are conducting further inquiry into the cases. While Gawade was not available for comment, Vasant Chavan of Shiv Sena said that the party did not wish to comment on the matter.

Ramesh More

Meanwhile, Gunjalkar, who was arrested and later released on bail after being produced at the Vasai court, told mid-day that the way he was arrested reeked of a conspiracy. "I was arrested at 3.30 am, while the FIR was filed at 4.30 am." He added that the court has slammed the police and ordered an inquiry. Police have been called with case papers on Monday to the court, he said.

He added that the that four complaints being filed in the same district within less than 24 hours of each other was no coincidence and that this was a "conspiracy by someone powerful in the area".

Also Read: Thane Cops Summon RTI Activists Using PILs To Extort Builders, Contractors

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