Mumbai Congress today filed a police complaint demanding registration of FIR against unnamed persons, including "a saheb from Bandra" whom BJP MP Kirit Somaiya had recently accused of being involved in corruption in the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.
City Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam led a party delegation to the Azad Maidan police station in south Mumbai and submitted a complaint with relevant news reports.
Nirupam also submitted a video of Somaiya's statement where the BJP MP had said there was widespread corruption in MCGM which was in "the grip of a powerful mafia" controlled by "a Saheb from Bandra and his PA".
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Somaiya's remarks validated Congress's allegation that Shiv Sena-BJP ruled MCGM was mired in corruption and there was a fit case for registering an FIR, Nirupam told PTI.
Police can very well ask Somaiya to identify the persons he was referring to, he said.
"We demanded that police should register FIR and bring the accused to the court in the stipulated 24 hours after preliminary investigation," Nirupam said, alleging that the police were, however, dragging their feet.
Former Congress MP Eknath Gaikwad, sitting MLAs Varsha Gaikwad and Kalidas Kolambkar, MLC Charanjeet Sapra, leader of opposition in the MCGM Pravin Chheda, among others, accompanied Nirupam.
"We have launched a series of initiatives which exposed the murky world of corruption in the civic body. Now the ruling party MP, Kirit Somaiya, has corroborated our stand," the city Congress chief said.
Nirupam said that if there was enough evidence about the
"maifa-raj" in MCGM, it would be a fit case for invocation of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act too.
"There is scam everywhere (in MCGM). Nullah desilting scam, road repairing scam, dumping ground scam, fire brigade scam, tablet scam, waste management scam, etc," the former Congress MP said, adding that if police did not register an FIR, Congress would approach the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and then the Governor or Lokayukta.
Nirupam has also written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking dissolution of MCGM over corruption.
