Thane: Political activist booked for defaming CM Eknath Shinde's family

Thane: The Naupada police have registered a case against a member of a political outfit for allegedly defaming Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's family following the recent demolition of the famous sweets shop, Prashant Corner, at Panchpakhadi. Notably, the complaint was filed by the shop owner who denied the allegations levelled by the accused that the outlet was razed as a CM's relative had a quarrel at the shop.

Senior Inspector Sanjay Dhumal said, “The accused, Ajay Jaya of Dharmarajya Paksha, made defamatory remarks (against the CM's family) after the Thane civic body pulled down the shop's extended portion on May 25.”

On Monday, shop owner Prashant Sakpal held a presser and clarified, “All the allegations made by Jaya are baseless, wrong and no such incident (of a quarrel) took place. The demolition of our shop's portion has been done at the municipal level and the other illegal structures in the vicinity also met the same fate. MP Shrikant Shinde's (who is the CM's son) wife has nothing to do with this matter. They have never come to our shop. There is a conspiracy to defame the CM by linking his kin to my case (of demolition).

A case has been registered under Indian Penal Code section 500 (defamation).