Shetty,brother in a bind over false SC certificate

“The squad had gone to Shettys’ native place to verify caste certificates and school leaving certificates submitted by the brothers. The squad report says the Shettys belong to the upper caste and not Scheduled Caste,” said Kamtekar.

The Shettys claimed in their caste certificates that they belong to “Hindu Bunt” community. “The Shettys sought to project a wrong caste status. They belong to Hindu Bunts community,which is an upper caste in Karnataka.

The Bunt community in Maharashtra is primarily found in Solapur and belongs to Scheduled Caste. The Shettys misused it to project themselves as Scheduled Caste,” said Kamtekar.

When contacted,Ulhas claimed they belong to the Scheduled Caste community. “In Karnataka Bunt community comes under OBC,but in Maharashtra they have been given Scheduled Caste status by the Maharashtra Government,” said Ulhas,adding they have been living in Maharashtra for 50 years and have little connection with Karnataka.

“The Shiv Sena is trying to avenge the defeat of their candidates by us. The Sena double standards are clearly visible. In PMC areas,one of its candidates was a Shetty and contested from a ward reserved for Scheduled Caste. He lost,or else the Sena would have found it difficult to take it out against us,” he said.

Ulhas said that in the past,Anil Hegde who was elected to PCMC was also from the Bunt community. Jagdish has been evading media queries for the past two-three days and did not attend Tuesday’s standing committee meeting.

The Shettys are fighting a battle on two counts. One case against them is pending with Shivajinagar court while the other is before the Caste Verification Committee which is likely to hold the next hearing on June 14.

“The Shettys are in real trouble. They may well be arrested for submitting fake caste certificates and misleading the Election Commission,” said Kamtekar.