BJP's Pravin Darekar accused of corruption by fellow party member; booked

The EOW files an FIR against BJP's Pravin Darekar, after fellow party member accuses him of corruption

An FIR has been registered against Pravin Darekar, the vice president of Mumbai BJP, following a complaint filed by Vivekanand Gupta, secretary of the same party.

Pravin Darekar

The FIR has been registered by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) on Friday under Section 420 and others. The complaint mentions that there has been a gross misappropriation of funds, amounting to Rs 123 crore. The department had been investigating the matter for months before it officially registered the FIR on March 27, 2015.

Gupta's complaint states that Mumbai Cooperative Bank, where Darekar is the director, has been hiring arbitrarily. The complaint also suggests that there have been wrongful gains to the directors by the misuse of their official position to the tune of Rs 123 crore.

Darekar, a former MNS MLA, joined the BJP in January amid severe opposition from the party members who raised issues of corruption. Darekar represented the Magathane constituency in the last state assembly and is the president and director of the Mumbai Cooperative Bank.  

Rajvardhan Sinha, the head of EOW, confirmed that his department had registered an FIR against Darekar and various other directors of the Mumbai Cooperative Bank. “We found substance in the complaint,” he stated, denying a delay in the issuing of an FIR.

Meanwhile, Darekar claimed that he is being wrongly implicated and he will prove his stand in the court. “We have already registered a complaint against the opposite party and we will prove our stand in court,” he said.

Repeated attempts to contact Vivekanand Gupta, the complainant, proved futile.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!