Maharashtra: Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation town planner booked over impersonation racket

Jagannath Jagtap. Pic/Navneet Barhate

The Thane police have booked five individuals after political party workers alleged that four of the accused had been illegally operating from an Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation town planner's office. The complainants have demanded a probe into the matter. According to Prakash Mulay, the town planner, who is one of the people booked, one of the accused is his driver.

After a departmental inquiry, the UMC administrator directed officials to register a complaint against the four private persons and the town planner. Meanwhile, Mulay who was on leave for the past three months, claimed he was not given a chance to explain and asked why other civic officials didn't object to the quartet working in his office in his absence.

"All the persons caught inside the UMC headquarters were handling files. Rahul Jote is Mulay's private driver. Jagtap was consulting on the objections related to some files. Swati Kadam was acting as computer operator while Deepak Kurhade was helping Jagtap," said an official on condition of anonymity. Central Police station officials had booked Jagtap, Kadam, Kurhade and Jote, under Indian Penal Code Sections 170 (personating as a public servant) and 34 (common intention).

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UMC chief Aziz Shaikh said, "We suspect these persons were working for three months. I have sought an explanation from the officer-in-charge about why no one objected to these people working in the office."