Kirit Somaiya detained ahead of Kolhapur visit; BJP slams Thackeray govt

Police stopped Me at Karad under Prohibitory order 9am Press Conference at Karad Circuit House I will expose 1 more scam of Hassan Mushrif

पोलिसांनी मला निषेधाच्या आदेशान्वये कराडल थांबवले 9 वाजता कराड सर्किट हाऊसला मी पत्रकार परिषदेत हसन मुश्रीफ यांचा आणखी एक घोटाळा उघड करणारं

— Kirit Somaiya (@KiritSomaiya) September 20, 2021

Informing about the situation, Somaiya wrote on Twitter, “Police stopped me at Karad under Prohibitory order. 9 am press conference at Karad Circuit House. I will expose 1 more scam of Hassan Mushrif.”

Kolhapur Superintendent of Police Shailesh Balkawde told news agency PTI that a team of district police reached Karad, and Somaiya was stopped at the railway station there and served a copy of the (prohibitory) order. “After we told him that he was prohibited from entering the district, he cooperated and will now return after addressing a press conference in Karad,” the SP added.

A few days back, Somaiya had accused Mushrif, the minister for rural development and MLA from Kagal in Kolhapur, of indulging in corruption and holding “benami” entities in the name of his kin. The allegations were, however, dismissed by the latter.

Somaiya said that state BJP president Chandrakant Patil and opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis had asked him to expose the corruption cases against NCP’S rural development minister Hassan Mushriff. According to him, Mushriff is involved in scams worth Rs 100 crore in  the Appasaheb Nalawade Sugar factory. “There are more financial scams which will be revealed in the next two days,” he added.

He further said, “I had publicly said that I was going to Kolhapur as I wanted to collect more information about the corruption cases against Mushriff. By stopping me, it is evident that the NCP is trying to protect their corrupt ministers.”

#WATCH | Maharashtra: BJP leader Kirit Somaiya detained at Karad Railway Station in Satara district

Somaiya was expected to visit Kohlapur today. Kolhapur Dist Collector had issued prohibitory orders against him & imposed Section 144, prohibiting gatherings on September 20 & 21. pic.twitter.com/3fI42IU53y

— ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2021

Somaiya displayed an order, dated September 19, issued by Kolhapur Collector Rahul Rekhawar that stated that he had been prohibited from entering the district under Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code “in view of the threat to his life and possibility of the law-and-order situation due to his visit”.

The order added that the police would be occupied with Ganpati immersions and it would not be possible to provide security to Somaiya.

Senior inspector Sunil Kamble of Navghar police station in Mumbai also issued a notice to Somaiya asking him to follow the order of the Kolhapur administration. Somaiya’s Mulund residence falls within the jurisdiction of Navghar police station.

Somaiya, in a tweet, had called this development the “dadagiri” of the Uddhav Thackeray government.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil called the move “dictatorial” and said the Thackeray government would not be able to stifle Somaiya’s voice. He said the BJP and Somaiya would take these corruption cases to their logical end. Patil said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was trying to suppress the voice of Somaiya, who was exposing the “corrupt” ministers.

Former Maharastra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed solidarity with Somaiya and said he has been “detained without any explanation.” “Maharashtra is witnessing an undeclared emergency. Ever since the Maha Vikas Aghadi government took the reins of Maharashtra people are subjected to harassment. Anybody questioning the government’s wrong decision or pointing to corruption is arrested and jailed,” he said.

(With inputs from PTI)