Mumbai: Two officials suspended after mid-day report creates shor in House

Two top revenue officials including Bhiwandi SubDivisional Officer and his predecessor have been suspended in connection with an impersonation case midday was the first to report the case where a tribal womanrsquos details were fraudulently used as that of a dead womanrsquos to claim government compensation of over Rs 90 lakh The report on November 8 prompted the authorities concerned to file an FIR on November 16 The suspensions came after BJP leader Pravin Darekar mentioned the case during the Winter Session on TuesdayAfter Darekar raised this issue Revenue Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil announced the suspension of the two officials and said that a divisional commissioner has been asked to conduct an inquiry and submit a report An offence will be registered on the basis of the reportMuknersquos house in Dugad village Bhiwandi taluka PicsHanif PatelBhiwandi SDO Balasaheb Wakchaure and his predecessor Mohan Naladkar are the two who have been suspended for their alleged involvement in the case and for helping the conmen claim the compensation Both officials are likely to be booked and arrested soonAlso Read Myanmar slave trade lsquoThanks to midday my son is coming homersquoWhen contacted Wakchaure said ldquoI am innocent I have been made a scapegoat in this issue The cheque was undersigned by Mohan Naladkar not merdquoBhagirathi Rama Mukne had gone missing when the police probe started but has resurfaced since right Former Bhiwandi SDO Mohan Naladkar has been suspended in connection with the caseCalls and messages to Naladkar went unansweredSo far six people including the sarpanch of Dugad village in Bhiwandi taluka have been arrested in the caseThe conBhagirathi Rama Mukne a 73yearold tribal woman from Dugad village in Bhiwandi was duped by fraudsters who used her details to impersonate a dead woman to claim government compensation of over R90 lakh for land The government acquired the land for MumbaiVadodara Highway works As the owner of the land was deceased some conmen roped in Muknersquos relatives and used her details to claim the compensationMukne learnt of the fraud after getting notices from the SDO asking her to return R32 lakh which was mistakenly sent to her account while disbursing the compensationmidday has in earlier reports highlighted how the fraudsters allegedly in connivance with some government officers used Muknersquos documents and biometric details to show a dead woman Thaki Sakhya Savar as alive and made fake Aadhaar card bank accounts and other relevant documentsThe Thane police took cognisance of middayrsquos report and arrested six people including the sarpanch of the village Those arrested include sarpanch Rajesh Bhoir Muknersquos grandson Bhushan Ashok Nandviskar Moreshwar Chandrakant Patil Sudhakar Sakharam Gundolkar Anis Momin and Mohammad Tahaa Three of these accused belong to the same village However after the police crackdown began following middayrsquos story Mukne had gone missing for a few days but she resurfaced later She is currently living in her villageBalaram Bhoir general secretary of Shramjeevi Sanghatana which fights for the rights of tribals in Maharashtra told midday that his organisation had also sent a complaint letter to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ldquoBased on our complaint letter the CM asked Thane Collector to conduct an enquiry However an FIR was registered only after midday published the story Six people including the village sarpanch were arrested in the case But all of them were private people while no government officials were booked despite sufficient evidence against themrdquo Bhoir saidAfter middayrsquos first report on this issue Bhiwandi Rural MLA Shantaram More and Bhiwandi West MLA Mahesh Chougule too wrote to the chief minister to look into the matter Vivek Pandit chairman of Tribal Development Review Committee Maharashtra said ldquoThere is an ongoing racket in the office of SDO Bhiwandi We welcome the suspension of these two officers but it is not enough just to suspend them Other officers involved in this racket should also be exposed Also the corrupt officers must be booked and punished within the ambit of lawrdquo06No of arrests made in the case so far