Mumbai Police has registered a case against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya and his son Neil for alleged misappropriation of over Rs 57 crore collected to rescue aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. An official gave this information on Thursday.
Based on a complaint by a 53-year-old ex-serviceman, a case has been registered against him at Trombay police station in suburban Mankhurd, he said.
Commissioned in 1961, a Majestic-class aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy, INS Vikrant was instrumental in enforcing the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. It was removed in 1997.
In January 2014, the ship was sold through an online auction and was scrapped in November of that year. The complainant said that Somaiya had started an operation to raise funds for INS Vikrant. He said he had donated to Somaiya to save the ship and the BJP leader had collected over Rs 57 crore for the purpose. However, instead of depositing the amount in the office of the Secretary to the Governor of Maharashtra, he misappropriated the money.
Local Shiv Sena leaders had met the police officials along with the complainant on Wednesday to raise the issue. Based on the complaint, a case has been registered against Kirit Somaiya, his son Neil and others under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the police official said. .
On Wednesday, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut also accused Kirit Somaiya of misappropriating Rs 57 crore raised from people to save INS Vikrant. Rejecting the allegation, Somaiya had said that if Raut has any evidence, he should hand it over to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
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