Amravati: Maharashtra Minister Rajendra
Mulak on Tuesday denied involvement in the movement of Rs one crore
cash that was seized on February 12, while President Pratibha
Patil`s son and Congress MLA Raosaheb Shekhawat maintained his
earlier claims that it was meant for poor party candidates.
Mulak and Shekhawat said this in their replies to the
notices sent by Amravati district collector.
Cash of Rs one crore, which was being transported into
Amravati from Nagpur in a car was seized by police in the
early hours of February 12. Following the seizure, the
Election Commission had directed the district collector and
municipal commissioner to file a report about the incident.
The collector had then issued notices Shekhawat,
Minister of State for Water Resources Rajendra Mulak and
others in the case.
Mulak, who did not appear in person before the
Amravati district collector Rahul Ranjan Mahiwal, submitted
his statement through his counsel, in which, he said he did
not have knowledge about the movement of the cash from Nagpur
to Amravati.
Shekhawat, who had been questioned by Amravati police
in this connection earlier, today submitted his statements to
the collector through his counsel, in which, he maintained
that the cash of Rs 87 lakh was meant to be distributed among
87 poor candidates, while the remaining amount was to be spent
by Amravati City and District Congress Committee for election
campaign. He had made these claims earlier as well.
The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) had
also maintained earlier that the cash was sent by it for
distributing it among Congress nominees for Amravati polls.
MPCC general secretary Ganesh Patil, who had also
been served a notice, appeared in person before the collector.
Giving a new twist to the entire episode, he claimed that the
cash had been collected through coupons and was diverted from
Nagpur to Amravati.
Talking to reporters, district collector Mahiwal said
there seemed to be some discrepancy in the statements of Mulak
and those given by the driver of the car, who transported the
cash in the vehicle.
The collector said that MPCC had been asked to submit
some more documents by March 2.
Based on the responses, a detailed report will be
prepared and sent to the Election Commission. Police are
conducting an independent probe into the episode.
PTI
