Jailed NCP MLA visits Thane flat, raid nets Rs 53 lakh cash

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A police team found over Rs 53 lakh cash from a flat after raiding it on Friday evening on a tip-off that arrested NCP leader Ramesh Kadam was present there, an official said.

Kadam was being taken to Thane Central Jail after a medical check-up at JJ Hospital when he told his police escort team to take him to a friend's flat in Thane's Ghodbunder Road area, the official said.

Kadam, NCP MLA from Mohol in Solapur, was arrested in August, 2015 for alleged irregularities to the tune of Rs 150 crore in state-run Annabhau Sathe Development Corporation (ASDC) when he was its chairman.

Kadam is seeking re-election from Mohol in the October 21 Assembly polls as an Independent candidate.

"Kadam was taken to JJ Hospital from Thane Central Jail after he complained of uneasiness. However, the doctors there gave him a clean bill of health. On his way back, Kadam wanted to visit a flat on Ghodbunder Road to meet a friend identified as Raju Khare," a Thane police official said.

After being tipped-off about Kadam visiting the flat illegally, a Thane police team raided it and found the MLA, Khare and the escort team there, along with Rs 53.43 lakh cash in denominations of Rs 500 and 2000, he said.

Khare was arrested late night while Kadam was sent to Thane Central Jail, the official said.

"The antecedents of the cash as well as why the escort party took a detour on Kadam's insistence are being probed. Poll officials and senior police personnel have reached the flat," he said.

An official said action was underway against the escort for the unscheduled, unauthorised detour.