The Economic Offence Wing has registered a case against MLA (UBT faction) Ravindra Waikar and his wife, along with others, for allegedly constructing a luxury hotel in Jogeshwari in violation of their agreement with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The case was filed at Azad Maidan Police Station on September 14. The FIR was registered based on a complaint from BMC engineer Santosh Mandavkar. The case includes allegations of cheating against Ravindra Waikar, his wife Manisha Waikar, business partner Aasu Nehlwai, Raj Lalchandani, Pruthvipal Bindra, and Architect Arun Dubay.
Permission for a sports facility
According to the complaint, Waiker had entered into a contract with the BMC, obtaining permission to run a sports facility on the Jogeshwari plot. This permission was granted during the tenure of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra.
500 crore scam: BJP
Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya has alleged that Ravindra Waikar constructed this club on a reserved plot and a luxury hotel in violation of his agreement with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Somaiya claims this is a 500 crore scam. The Economic Offence Wing initiated a preliminary inquiry based on Somaiya's complaint and summoned Waikar for questioning. Ravindra Waikar has appeared before the EOW, and now a case has been filed against him.
Kirit Somaiya stated, "A case has been filed against Uddhav Thackeray faction leader Ravindra Waikar for a scam of Rs. 500 crore. I filed a complaint about it at Azad Maidan police station on March 11, 2023. In July 2021, while Uddhav Thackeray was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, he gifted a two lakh square feet playing ground located in Jogeshwari to Ravindra Waikar. On this ground, construction of a five-star hotel building has begun, and now action has been taken against Ravindra Waikar and his wife Manisha Waikar."
FPJ attempted to contact Ravindra Waikar but received no response.
No arrests so far
No arrests have been made in the case, and the EOW may call the legislator and other accused for questioning.
Meanwhile, a few days ago, an FIR was registered against Mumbai's former mayor Kishori Pednekar regarding a COVID body bag scam. Now, a case has also been registered against Ravindra Waikar. The Thackeray faction is facing trouble one after the other, with allegations and cases being filed against important leaders within the Shiv Sena Thackeray faction. Therefore, it is being speculated that the problems for Shiv Sena's leader Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray will increase in the coming times.
