ACB sleuths raid Gholap8217;s properties

NASHIK, JULY 1: A team of officials from the Anti-Corruption Bureau ACB raided the properties of former social welfare minister, Babanr...

NASHIK, JULY 1: A team of officials from the Anti-Corruption Bureau ACB raided the properties of former social welfare minister, Babanrao Gholap, today.

The team of 76 ACB personnel from Mumbai, Nashik, Dhule and Jalgaon simultaneously raided Gholap8217;s house in Shiv Sphurti8217; building at Vihitgaon, Devlali, his office in the same building, his mother-in-law, Muktabai Banker8217;s house in Vihitgaon, and his agricultural land near Beje village along the Nashik-Trimbak road. Neither Gholap nor his wife, Shashikala, were at home when the raids began this morning.

Officials conducted the searches and conducted panchanama throughout the day. At Gholap8217;s house, the searches were conducted in the presence of his son and daughter. They refused to reveal anything on the outcome of the raids.

Gholap owns two flats in Shiv Sphurti and an office gala in the same building. Shashikala Gholap had bought 36 acres of land near Beje at the declared cost of Rs 5 lakh in 1996. The raids have been conducted after a casefiled in the Mumbai High Court by a social activist Sanjeev Chimbulkar.

Gholap rose from a florist and carting agent at the Nashik Road railway station to a minister. He was elected as an MLA from the Devlali constituency in 1990 on a Shiv Sena ticket. In 1995, he was re-elected and inducted in the Cabinet as the social welfare minister. His ministerial years were controversial for incidents like inaugurating a permit room Hotel Shiva in Nashik on August 22, 1995, despite holding the portfolio of prohibition for which he was stripped of the portfolio, and the diversion of funds under his control to the Awami Bank.

Veteran social worker Anna Hazare had led a campaign against Gholap and the latter had filed a defamation suit, resulting in the conviction of the former, much to the embarrassment of the Government.