Mumbai, Aug 27 (IANS) The city unit of the Youth Congress Saturday demanded the resignation of Mayor Shraddha Jadhav in connection with the seizure of a tempo containing Rs.5 million cash and around three-and-half kg gold a day earlier.
Mumbai Pradesh Youth Congress (MPYC) president Sadaf Aboli said the rogue tempo, spotted by some of his party workers in south Mumbai Friday afternoon, was left unattended for nearly eight hours in the premises of a municipal school building.
Alleging a massive 'hawala' (money laundering) racket and corruption in the octroi department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), run by the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine, Aboli said it is still not clear where the money came from and for whom it was intended.
The octroi department swung into action only after Municipal Commissioner Subodh Kumar was informed by MPYC workers. Octroi officials registered a complaint only after 9 p.m. last night, he added.
"The incident exposes the dual face of the Shiv Sena -- on one hand, support Anna Hazare and on the other indulge in such blatant corruption," Aboli told IANS.
Two MPYC activists noticed the tempo driver flashing bundles of currency and trying to bribe two octroi officials who had intercepted it.
The tempo had dual number plates, the driver did not have a driving licence and he fled the scene after the vehicle was intercepted.
Hinting at a "mega-scam", Aboli said the octroi department has said in its police complaint that they were alerted by the mayor's office to intercept the tempo.
Later, they also said that some Shiv Sena workers attached to the mayor were present when the tempo was intercepted, but they later ran away from the spot.
When the police arrived, a person claiming to be Mayor Shraddha Jadhav's brother told the police to leave the scene and assured that he would "settle" the issue.
"If the mayor's office had alerted the octroi department and then the Sena workers had intercepted it, why did they disappear after the tempo was seized," Aboli demanded.
He also wondered who the so-called brother of the mayor was.
"Was the cash coming from the mayor's bungalow, or the Sena party office or home of one of its functionaries," Aboli asked.
This is the second incident of huge amount of cash being recovered from rogue vehicles in the past two months.
Last month, the police intercepted and seized a Toyota Innova with Rs.16.80 million in central Mumbai.