Rs 50 cr withdrawal from party fund: EOW questions Sena UBT leader Anil Desai for 7 hrs

A senior EOW officer said that a PE has been initiated and it is being checked whether a cognisable offence was committed. The EOW initiates a PE into every complaint it receives. If substantial facts surface during the inquiry suggesting that a cognisable offence has been committed, the complaint is turned into a first information report (FIR) for further investigation and prosecution. If sufficient material is not found, the PE and the complaint are closed.

The Shiv Sena split in June 2022 after Shinde rebelled and brought down the Thackeray-led Maharashtra government. The EC declared the Shinde-led faction as the real Sena in February 2023.

EOW sources said that they are analysing the money trail and trying to find out if money was withdrawn after the ownership of the party was decided, and if so, who benefitted from it and who was behind it.

In January, Kiran Pawaskar, secretary of the Shinde Sena, met Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar and requested police to lodge a cheating and forgery complaint against Shiv Sena (UBT) functionaries, claiming that they were misusing the party’s PAN and TAN details and fraudulently filing the Shiv Sena’s income tax returns and tax deducted at source (TDS).

The complaint was marked to the crime branch’s cyber unit but as the EOW is already probing several cases involving Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders – mostly related to scams during the Covid period – the commissioner transferred the matter to EOW for further investigation.

Pawaskar said their faction and the party symbol were recognised as the real Shiv Sena by the Election Commission. Despite this, he alleged, the login and password related to the income tax department are being used by the Shiv Sena (UBT) and demanded that a criminal case be registered against the persons concerned.

“The Shiv Sena party symbol has been given to us by the Election Commission. The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly has also given a verdict in our favour as per the directions of the Supreme Court. But in spite of this, while working on the account of the party as well as according to the instructions of the income tax department, the password is required for the login. There is confusion about it. We allege that Shiv Sena party’s name, original PAN card, TAN card and income tax-related matters are being misused by the Sena UBT and serious criminal cases should be registered against the persons concerned at the earliest,” Pawaskar said.

The EOW is verifying the allegations and will seek technical assistance from cyber crime officials to probe the matter thoroughly, another officer said.