Mumbai, Jan 16 (TOI): Shiv Sena corporator from Nalasopara Dhananjay Gawde, who was detained last December with Rs 1.1 crore old and new notes in his car, is in fresh trouble. This time, he has been booked for cheating and forgery in a property dispute case.
The complainant, Pramodkumar Rahlan, who has named Gawde and 13 persons of the Dibrit family, said his father Rajkumar had purchased a 2,650-sqm property in Nalasopara (E) in 1987 from the Dibrits. The barren land had a temple on it, he said. Rajkumar passed away in 2005. "In 2013, we learnt that the Dibrits had added the names of three heirs and had given the plot to Rex Rodrigues, Gawde and Kalpesh Rodrigues by forging documents," said Rahlan, who filed a suit in the Vasai court.
Gawde claimed the plot was purchased on March 22, 2013, using genuine documents. He added that after Rahlan filed a complaint with the Thane crime branch in 2014, he had submitted all documents pertaining to the land deal to the officials.
The corporator said that on January 1, the additional collector at Jawhar had ruled in his favour.
He added that a false cheating case was filed against him at Tuling police station and the matter is pending in the Vasai court.
The Tuling police has charged Gawde (43) under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 466 (forgery of record of court), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 167 (public servant framing incorrect document) based on the complaint.
Gawde, a businessman, is House leader of the Sena in Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation. The municipality is ruled by the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi party of MLA Hitendra Thakur.
Earlier, in December, Gawde, who is also deputy chief of the Shiv Sena's Thane district unit, was detained by the crime branch and Thane income-tax officials while carrying Rs 1.1 crore cash—Rs 47 lakh in new notes and the rest in old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes—in the boot of his car, following a specific tip-off. Gawde claimed the money belonged to hotelier Sudharshan Sheregar with whom he was travelling. He was let off after a 12-hour-long interrogation even as raids were carried out at his residence in Thane.
The next day, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray sought to downplay Gawde's detention by pointing out a similar case involving BJP minister Subhash Deshmukh on November 17, 2016, when Rs 91.5 lakh was found in a vehicle in Umergaon in Osmanabad district. The car reportedly belonged to Deshmukh, who claimed that the cash was meant for payment to the labourers of a sugar cooperative factory, which is affiliated to the Lok Mangal group.