A cheating case has been registered against senior BJP Leader Kirit Somaiya and his son Neil. Worse, they misappropriated over Rs 57 crores out of the funds that had been collected to save the INS Vikrant. A police case has been registered by Mumbai police. A 53-year-old Army personnel who was very dejected at the BJP leader making money even out of INS Vikrant registered the police case in Trombay in Mumbai. INS Vikrant has an emotional value.
Commissioned in 1961, INS Vikrant, a Majestic-class aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy, had played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. It was decommissioned in 1997. In January 2014, the ship was sold through an online auction and scrapped in November that year.
The complainant said that Kirit Somaiya had started a campaign to raise funds for INS Vikrant. He said that he had given donations to Kirit Somaiya for saving the ship and the BJP leader had collected more than ₹ 57 crores for the purpose. However, instead of depositing the amount to the Maharashtra governor’s secretary’s office, he misappropriated the funds.
Local Shiv Sena leaders had met the police authorities along with the complainant on Wednesday to raise the issue.
Based on the complaint, a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), and 34 (common intention) were registered against Kirit Somaiya, his son Neil and others, the police official said.
On Wednesday, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut had also accused Kirit Somaiya of siphoning off ₹ 57 crores collected from people as donations to save INS Vikrant.
Somaiya has rejected all allegations.
