Virar cash-for-votes case: Money, incriminating documents recovered from hotel, says collector

Vinod Tawde at the spot. Pic/Hanif Patel

The authorities in Palghar district of Maharashtra on Tuesday said that a police team comprising senior officials recovered around Rs 9.93 lakh and some incriminating documents from the hotel where some BJP activists were allegedly distributing money, reported the PTI.

The statement has come in the wake of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) chief Hitendra Thakur's cash-for-votes allegations.

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Thakur alleged that BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde was distributing money to voters in Palghar on the eve of the Maharashtra assembly election 2024.

Hitendra Thakur had claimed Vinod Tawde had come to Virar to disburse Rs 5 crore to influence voters, and he was at a hotel, as per the PTI.

A video on social media showed BVA workers confronting Vinod Tawde outside the hotel.

District collector and election officer Govind Bodke said the election department received complaints from BVA activists that some BJP workers were distributing cash at a hotel in Virar.

Following this, the returning officer of Nalasopara and a police team, along with the joint police commissioner and two deputy police commissioners, searched the hotel and recovered Rs 9.93 lakh cash and some incriminating documents, the official said.

The collector, in a recorded message, confirmed that cases were registered for offences, including possession of cash, violation of the model code of conduct, and holding illegal press conferences.

The police were probing into the crimes, he said, without revealing against whom these offences were registered.

Vinod Tawde and the BJP, however, have denied the allegation. The BJP leader claimed he was in Nalasopara to provide guidance regarding election procedures and challenged the opposition parties to verify his activities.

According to the ANI, Vinod Tawde said, "I believe that Election Commission should conduct an impartial investigation."

Tawde said, "A meeting of MLAs of Nalasopara was underway. The Model Code of Conduct for the day of voting, how will voting machines be sealed and how to go about if an objection has to be made...I went there to tell them about it. The workers of the party (Bahujan Vikas Aghadi), Appa Thakur and Kshitij thought that we were distributing money. Let the Election Commission and Police inquire, let them get CCTV footage. I have been in the party for 40 years. Appa Thakur and Kshitij know me, the entire party knows me...Still, I believe that Election Commission should conduct an impartial investigation."

(with PTI inputs)