Explained: The INS Vikrant case against BJP’s Kirit Somaiya and his son

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Trouble is brewing for Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kirit Somaiya and his son, Neil, after the Mumbai police registered a case of cheating against the father-son duo on Thursday.

The case is in connection to a complaint over the alleged misappropriation of over Rs 57 crore funds collected to save aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.

Here’s what the case is all about and where does Kirit Somaiya figure in it.

What is INS Vikrant?

INS Vikrant is a Majestic-class light fleet aircraft carrier built on 14 October 1943, commissioned in the British Royal Navy in 1945 and bought by India in 1957.

Vikrant was commissioned as the first aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy and played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

The 16,000- aircraft carrier was finally decommissioned from the Indian Navy in 1997. The ship, which was described as incomparable, was sent to the scrap yard in 2014 after the Maharashtra government of the time had expressed its inability to maintain it.

As per an India Today report, Save Vikrant Committee chief Kiran Paigankar, who had filed a public interest litigation to save the ship, termed it “a sad day in the country's glorious maritime history”.

Interestingly, Bajaj Auto thought of an ingenious plan to preserve the invincible legacy of Vikrant. As the ship was being ruthlessly wracked, Bajaj Auto purchased a large amount of scrap metal and then used it to manufacture the fuel tank of the Bajaj V, a 150cc motorcycle.

What’s the complaint all about?

Fifty-three-year-old former Army officer Baban Bhosle filed an FIR against Somaiya and his son at the Trombay police station.

In his FIR, he states that the BJP leader had started a campaign to raise funds for INS Vikrant and that he, himself, had given donations to Kirit Somaiya for saving the ship. The collections, according to Bhosle, had been around Rs 57 crore.

The Army veteran, as per a PTI report, alleges that the money raised was not deposited with the Maharashtra governor’s secretary office but rerouted into Somaiya’s own business.

Subsequently, the police filed a case against Kirit Somaiya and Neil Somaiya under Sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

Sanjay Raut vs Kirit Somaiya

It is important to note that the police action against the BJP leader came a day after Shiv Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut made the sensational allegations.

On Twitter, he said that answers should be sought from the BJP, which was ‘doing black marketing of national sentiment’.

However, Somaiya has categorically denied the allegations and said he was prepared to face any probe in the matter, even as a large number of Shiv Sainiks staged protests against him in Chembur.

“There is no scam in this. I have not done anything wrong. I have not received the copy of the FIR filed in the case. I will keep exposing the Uddhav Thackeray government. I am ready to face the investigation,” he said as reported by the Indian Express.

With inputs from agencies

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