AAP’s Chaitar Vasava booked after hotel manager, claiming to be ‘friend’, alleges intimidation

In a statement on Sunday, Chaitar claimed that Shantilal had been blackmailing him despite the hotel owner having confirmed that the bills have been cleared.

Along with Chaitar, his personal assistant Jitendra Vasava, Dharmesh Vasava, Madhusinh Vasava, Shivram Vasava, and Dhama Vasava and and 15 other persons have been booked. (X/Chaitar Vasava)

Gujarat Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) working president and Dediapada MLA Chaitar Vasava has been booked in a case of rioting and criminal intimidation based on a complaint filed by a hotel manager who claims to be the AAP leader’s “childhood friend”, said police. The AAP MLA, however has countered the claims, saying that the hotel manager is trying to blackmail him.

The Narmada District Police lodged the case after the hotel manager filed a complaint at Dediapada police station on Sunday. According to the FIR, complainant Shantilal Vasava alleged that the AAP MLA — along with his accomplices — attacked him on September 16 over alleged overdue hotel bills issued to him.

Shantilal said that the pending dues pertain to the meals provided to AAP workers at Shivam Park hotel in Dediapada during the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year when Chaitar contested from Bharuch in a seat-sharing arrangement with Congress.

In his FIR, Shantilal said, “Chaitar Vasava is my childhood friend and I had joined Chaitar as an active political worker in 2015… During his candidature in the Bharuch Lok Sabha polls, he asked me to take care of the meals for the party workers during the campaign and the leaders and workers regularly ate at Shivam Park hotel as I made arrangements after speaking to the owners… Until March 2024, the total bill was about Rs 60,000, of which, Chaitar paid me Rs 30,000 in March and a second installment of Rs 20,000 and told me to carry forward the balance until the end of the Lok Sabha polls.”

Shantilal further said that the total outstanding dues amounted to about Rs 1.28 lakh at the end of the Lok Sabha polls, prompting the hotel owner to ask for the payment to be cleared.

“When I tried to contact Chaitar Vasava, he stopped answering my calls. Finally, when I managed to speak to him about it, he lost his cool and told me that he owed no money towards the hotel bills… On September 16, Chaitar, accompanied by the other accused, arrived at my residence and assaulted me, abused me and threatened to kill me…”

In a statement on Sunday, Chaitar claimed that Shantilal had been blackmailing him despite the hotel owner having confirmed that the bills have been cleared. Sharing screenshots of the online payments made towards the hotel bills by his aides, the AAP leader said, “On September 16, Shantilal abused me in an inebriated state. I have the video proof of the same and I will present it before the police; Shantilal is trying to blackmail me despite the bills being cleared by my aides… His tactics will not work. The owner of the hotel has already confirmed that the entire payment has already been received.”

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Along with Chaitar, his personal assistant Jitendra Vasava, Dharmesh Vasava, Madhusinh Vasava, Shivram Vasava, and Dhama Vasava and and 15 other persons have been booked under various sections of the BNS for unlawful assembly, rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace.

Police said that a probe has been initiated and no arrests have been made in the case so far.

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