Rs 91 lakh seized from vehicle linked to Maharashtra minister

Mumbai: Maharashtra cooperative minister Subhash Deshmukh found himself in hot water after a flying squad of election officials found cash worth Rs 91 lakh in a car belonging to Mr Deshmukh’s Lokmangal Multi-State Cooperative Credit Society. The opposition Congress and NCP have demanded that the BJP minister be sacked from the Cabinet.

The seizure was made on Wednesday at Lohara in Osmanabad district by a flying squad of election officials who have been carrying out raids to seize large amounts of cash being transported ahead of local body polls in Maharashtra.

The credit society, of which Mr Deshmukh is chairman, runs banks and sugarcane factories and is involved in charity.

While Mr Deshmukh told The Asian Age on Friday that “there were irregularities and I am ready to face consequences,” he also said, “I am willing to face any Income Tax inquiry. The Rs 91 lakh was being ferried from one bank to another in a vehicle owned by the bank,” said Mr Deshmukh. It is not known yet whether this was black money or whether it was being taken to a bank owned by the Lokmangal group.

The opposition Congress and NCP have demanded Mr Deshmukh’s sacking and an investigation against others in the ruling BJP.

The Lokmangal Multi-State Cooperative Credit Society, meanwhile, said in a statement said that the car was caught at Lohara in Osmanabad district. Its Solapur head office had withdrawn Rs 40 lakh on October 24 and Rs 45 lakh on October 25 to dispatch them to its Umarga and Lohara branches, it said. However, on November 8, the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were banned, hence the society (bank) arranged a car to transport the said Rs 91 lakh to deposit in a current account at Solapur, the statement said. On the way, the car moved to Umarga and at the check post, the car was stopped and cash with the face value of Rs 91 lakh was seized, it said.

The Election Commission of India has appointed two agencies to verify the claims of the credit society.

The Lokmangal Multi-State Cooperative Credit Society is a big name in the cooperative sector in Western Maharashtra and Mr Deshmukh is its founder chairman. The group has a cooperative bank, which has several banks in the region. Till Thursday, Mr Deshmukh had denied any link with the money seized by the election officials. However, he changed his stand later and said the money is accounted for and he has documents to prove it.

Meanwhile, Prashant Nanaware, Osmanabad collector, said they are verifying the claims of the credit society. “The employees found in the van have failed to give satisfactory answers about the huge cash while caught by the Election Commission officers. I have informed the Election Commission of India and they have appointed two agencies to verify the claims,” said Mr Nanaware. “We will also check whether the bank has authority to stock the huge amount, why they kept the cancelled denominations after November 8 and will also check whether they had taken permission while shifting the amount,” he added.

“Once the inquiry is completed and if any irregularities are found, we will inform the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax department,” he said.