Arbuda Sena members on Wednesday demanded the release of their leader Vipul Chaudhary. Members Rajan Chaudhary and Rajesh Chaudhary claimed that all allegations against Vipul Chaudhary are “baseless and they aim to malign Vipul Chaudhary”.
Former Gujarat Minister Vipul Chaudhary and his Chartered accountant Shailesh Parikh were sent into judicial custody last week after a Mehsana court refused to grant further police remand. Both are facing charges of alleged financial irregularities to the tune of over Rs 750 crore during Chaudhary’s tenure as Dudhsagar Dairy chairman.
The state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) FIR accuses Chaudhary, Parikh, and Chaudhary’s wife and son of offenses of cheating, forgery, fraud, and criminal conspiracy under provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as for offenses under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
According to the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the alleged ill-gotten funds were then routed to 31 companies. On this, Rajan Chaudhary said, “ACB has only declared names of four companies–which have nothing to do with Vipulbhai. ACB has not declared the names of 27 companies. This allegation is baseless.”
“Another allegation is on his son, Pawan. It is alleged that he has an apartment overseas. Pawan is a Chartered Accountant and he has taken the apartment on loan (9 lakh dollars). Aruba Sena is prepared to go to Supreme Court if Vipulbhai is not released. There are some leaders in BJP who couldn’t see Vipul Chaudhary growing in stature. They wanted to pull him down and therefore these allegations.” adds Rajan Chaudhary.
Vipul Chaudhary formed the Arbuda Sena, a voluntary group of members of the Chaudhary community, this year. In just the past four months, Arbuda Sena conducted over 88 gatherings in Gujarat. Chaudharys is said to influence the electoral outcome in around 15 Assembly constituencies in north Gujarat.
Engaged in dairy farming and agriculture, Chaudhary’s are a sub-caste of the Patidar community and hold influence over North Gujarat’s political economy and politics with their control over the diaries of Sabarkantha, Banaskantha and Mehsana.
Also Read: Who’s Afraid Of Vipul Chaudhary? The Story Behind His Arrest
