Navi Mumbai: Korlai gram panchayat in docks; booked for cheating in Alibaug land case

The Revdanda police have registered a case of cheating against six persons, including a former gram sevak (village level officer), sarpanch and members of Korlai Gram Panchayat in connection with 19 bungalows in Korlai village in Alibaug.

As per the complaint, at least three gram sevaks collected property tax with wrongful assessment and without visiting the area.

The 19 bungalows (houses), spread over 23,500 sqft, were allegedly owned by Rashmi Thackeray, wife of former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, jointly with then legislator Ravindra Waikar’s wife Manisha. Last year in January, the BJP had raised questions over the purchase of these houses and asked why it was not disclosed in Thackeray’s election affidavit.

Block Development Officer of Murud Sangita Bhangre registered a complaint at Revdanda police station on Feb 23, 2023 against six persons – gram sevak Vinod Minde, Devangana Vetkoli, Devika Mhatre, Govind Chander Waghmare, Reshma Ramesh Misal, Rema Ramesh Pitkar and Prashant Janu Misal.

As per the complaint, the gram panchayat records showed 19 houses in 2014 and were purchased from one Anvay Naik but they disappeared from the records in 2021. Naik, in the records, was then the property tax payer as well. The new owner, who paid Rs2,38,491 property tax in 2020-21, questioned the applicability of the tax in 2021 because of land vanishing from the records. Therefore, in March 2021, the monthly general body passed a proposal to cancel the registration of the houses.