News Analysis India

Tag: Ashish Shelar

  • Man arrested for threatening, abusing BJP MLA Ashish Shelar

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: A 48-year-old man was arrested for allegedly threatening and abusing BJP MLA Ashish Shelar, Mumbai police said on Saturday.

    Osama Shamshad Khan, a resident of Mahim, was tracked down and held on the basis of technical inputs gathered during a probe by Unit IX of the Crime Branch after Shelar had approached police, an official said. It was found that the accused was frustrated over a land dispute in Bandra, due to which his son was facing an attempt to murder case, the official added.

    As his son was behind bars for two months, the accused called on the mobile of Shelar, who is MLA from Bandra West, and threatened and abused the BJP leader, he said.

  • Nawab Malik tarnishing image of budding leaders from minority community: BJP leader Ashish Shelar

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: BJP leader Ashish Shelar on Wednesday defended the appointments of certain individuals made by former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to government boards, hours after state minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik accused Fadnavis of appointing people with “criminal” background during his tenure.

    Speaking to reporters, Shelar said the decision to appoint Haji Arafat Sheikh and Haji Haider, whose names were referred to by Malik in his presser, was taken by the previous government because their inquiry reports were clean.

    “It is true that Haji Arafat, Haji Haider and Munna Yadav were appointed to some government boards by the previous government led by Devendra Fadnavis. Haji Arafat and Haji Haider’s appointments were cleared after the inquiry reports against them came clean,” the former state minister said.

    He said there was one allegation against Munna Yadav which he will clarify.

    “There might be some charges against Arafat and Haider but they must be regarding political rallies and public events,” he claimed.

    Earlier in the day, Malik had accused Fadnavis of suppressing the October 8, 2017 seizure of fake notes with the face value of Rs 14.56 crore by the DRI from the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai.

    Malik had claimed that one Imran Alam Sheikh who was arrested in this case is the brother of Haji Arfat Sheikh, who was made the chairman of the state minority commission.

    The minister had also claimed that Munna Yadav from Nagpur was made the chairman of the Maharashtra Construction Workers Welfare Board despite criminal charges like murder registered against him.

    Hitting back, Shelar said, “If these people were involved in some wrongdoings then why the incumbent MVA government has not taken any action against them? The home ministry is with NCP. Why is the NCP making accusations and running away?” Shelar claimed Imran Alam Shaikh was the then secretary of the Congress party.

    “He is now with the NCP. What explanation will the party give now? Malik is tarnishing the image of all the budding minority leaders in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. The question is why is he doing so?” he asked.

  • Uddhav government may have helped Param Bir to escape: BJP leader Shelar

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Former Maharashtra minister Ashish Shelar on Tuesday claimed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government may have helped IPS officer Param Bir Singh to flee and could be “preparing ground for him to seek political asylum” in a western country.

    Speaking to reporters here, Shelar, the BJP MLA from Mumbai, also claimed that the MVA government, comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, was obstructing the Centre’s strong actions to tackle the drug menace in the country.

    Recently, two non-bailable warrants were issued against Param Bir Singh in different extortion cases in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane.

    Singh was shunted out from the post of Mumbai police commissioner in March this year in the aftermath of the recovery of an SUV with explosives near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence in south Mumbai and the arrest of dismissed police officer Sachin Waze in the case.

    Singh later accused then then Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption.

    The IPS officer is also facing inquiry by the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau, and a case filed by a police officer from Akola against him under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act).

    Recently the Maharashtra government had told the Bombay High Court that it did not know of Singh’s whereabouts.

    Shelar said, “The way the number of cases are being filed against Param Bir Singh, it seems to be a strategy for preparing grounds for the IPS officer to seek political asylum in a particular western country. If you speak against the government, you are eligible for such asylum.”

    “The Maha Vikas Aghadi could be helping Singh to take political asylum in a western country by lodging several complaints against him,” he said.

    The idea would be to allow Singh to point at these complaints to seek political asylum by claiming that his life is in danger because he spoke against the ruling dispensation, the BJP leader claimed.

    “The MVA government must have helped Singh to go missing, because if he gets caught, he may reveal some work done for leaders of the ruling parties,” Shelar alleged.

    The real question is that since Param Bir Singh has all his documents, including the Aadhaar card, registered in Mumbai, how did he go missing from under the MVA’s nose? he said.

    Shelar also claimed the MVA government was obstructing the Centre’s strong actions to tackle the drug menace in the country.

    The remarks came in the wake of Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik seeking to link the opposition BJP in the state with an alleged drugs leader by tweeting the latter’s photograph with former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ wife Amruta Fadnavis.

    Malik has also been targeting the Narcotics Control Bureau’s (NCB) Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, after he led a raid on a cruise ship last month in which drugs were allegedly seized and actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan was arrested with some others.

    “There have been allegations regarding people who are against the country and are supplying drugs. However, the Union government’s efforts to take strong actions against them are being opposed by these people, including some in the MVA government,” Shelar said.

    “Is state minister Nawab Malik such people’s (anti-nationals supplying drugs) advocate?” he sought to know.

    Shelar claimed that Malik was “dillusioned” because his son-in-law was found involved in an alleged drugs racket.

    “He should be called ‘Khayali Malik’, and not Nawab Malik,” the BJP leader said.

    Shelar, without taking any names, said “these people” also opposed new amendments to the Information Technology Act proposed by the Union government.

    “The amendments were aimed at intercepting communication on various internet platforms which are suspected to be used for drug supply. The Union government wanted to increase the BSF’s jurisdiction to probe drug supply cases in up to 50 km area from the (international) border, but it was also opposed by these people,” he claimed.

    Asked about the NCB not taking action against some other people suspected to be involved in the cruise drugs case, Shelar said, “The DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence) did not sit quiet like the Maharashtra government’s anti-narcotics department. They (DRI) did take action against many people.”

    The MLA also said he or the BJP were not here to issue a “character certificate” to Wankhede.

    “The Union government is trying to curb the drug menace, but some people, including in the MVA government, are trying to halt the process. Even the steps to make the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act stronger were opposed by these people,” Shelar claimed.

  • Maharashtra BJP leader alleges Rs 1,000 crore scam in Mumbai’s coastal road project

    By Express News Service

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra BJP leader and MLA Ashish Shelar on Monday alleged Rs 1000 crore scam in Mumbai’s coastal road project.

    Shelar asked CM Uddhav Thackeray to probe the scam by forming a special investigation team (SIT). The coastal road project is being carried out by the Shiv Sena-ruled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Neither Sena nor the BMC has reacted to these allegations so far.

    Shelar alleged that Sena had a role in the. The MLA said Sena was involved in the scam by committing financial misappropriation while executing the project from October 2018 to December 2020.

    “I am confident that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will immediately take note of these corruption charges. It is now clear that one of the most important projects to congest traffic jams has been plagued by financial malpractice and corruption. It is unfortunate that Mumbaikars will have to bear huge losses. I have also given such a letter to Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal,” Advocate Shelar said.

    “Was the scam done with the consent of the BMC’s Standing Committee?” he asked.

    In a letter, Shelar stated: “The contractor company has embezzled Rs 437 crore from the Government of Maharashtra as the stones and materials required for filling in Phase I of the Coastal Road were picked up from other places without being licensed by the government. Who took this decision? Besides, the Rs 81.22 crore penalty imposed by the Maharashtra Police Transport Department for illegal and overloaded transport by the Coastal Road contractors while transporting the filler material was not yet paid? We also have information that 35,000 fraudulent rounds of stone material carrying vehicles have been shown to extract money by showing work on paper only,” reads the letter.

    It further reads that the substandard materials supplied by the contractors have been used in this ambitious project. “The bogus materials also washed away in rain. Did the contractors get any tacit political support? With whose blessing was this whole thing started? Where has this money been diverted through by depriving the government of its revenue? The investigation through SIT will answer all these questions,” Shelar said.

  • BJP’s Ashish Shelar alleges Rs 1,000 crore ‘scam’ in Mumbai’s coastal road project

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: BJP leader Ashish Shelar on Monday claimed there were financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore in the Mumbai coastal road project and demanded an SIT probe into the matter.

    Addressing a press conference, he said the “scam’ took place between October, 2018 and December, 2020 and asked if the Shiv Sena, which controls the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, was party to alleged irregularities.

    “Has the scam happened with the blessings of the standing committee of the BMC? Was the Shiv Sena involved in it? The BJP will reveal the names of the contractors but the Sena must clear its stand first as the ruling party in the civic body,” Shelar said.

    Shelar said he had written to BMC commissioner IS Chahal on the issue and also demanded that a special investigation team (SIT) be formed to probe it.

    Meanwhile, Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande said Shelar must submit proof of his allegations, adding that it was just a strategy by the BJP to defame her party to defeat it in the civic polls.

    She said BJP corporators were also part of the BMC’s standing committee and Shelar should ask them what were they doing.

  • Maharashtra floods: BJP legislators to donate salaries to CMRF 

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: BJP legislators in Maharashtra will donate a month’s salary to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) for relief and rehabilitation of flood and rain-affected people in the state, party MLA Ashish Shelar said on Wednesday.

    Shelar made the announcement after holding a meeting with the party’s state unit chief Chandrakant Patil and Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis.

    “All legislators of the BJP in lower and upper houses will donate a month’s salary to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. The decision was taken in a meeting attended by state chief Chandrakant Patil and Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis,” he said.

    “It is our request to the chief minister to accept our salaries for relief and rehabilitation work. The state should also provide additional assistance to the affected people,” Shelar added.

    Heavy rains last week caused massive floods and landslides in large parts of the state, especially in the coastal Konkan and Western Maharashtra regions.

    At least 209 people have died, while 4,34,185 people have been evacuated from their homes.