BJP’s Kirit Somaiah, son acquitted in INS Vikrant fund misappropriation case, Mumbai police say no evidence

The Mumbai Police has filed a closure report on the scam involving funds raised to save the warship INS Vikrant. BJP leader Kirit Somaiah and his son Neil Somaiah.

According to police sources, large-scale investigations are underway no evidence of embezzlement was found.

Earlier in August, the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police had submitted a closure report, but the court rejected it, saying that sufficient investigations had not been conducted. Now, following review of the closure report (Summary Report C), final acceptance is awaited.

The complaint against the BJP leader and others alleged that between 2013 and 2014, Somaiya launched a campaign to raise public funds to save the INS Vikrant, India’s first warship, which was scheduled to be scrapped after decommissioning.

To convert the warship into a Somaiya museum, his son Neil and others held a fund-raising drive called ‘Vikrant Vachva’ (Save Vikrant in Marathi) and collected crores of rupees, a complaint filed by ex-serviceman Sepoy Baban Bhimrao Bhosale alleged.

The complaint said a document obtained under the Right to Information Act showed that the funds were not kept in the Maharashtra Governor’s office. He alleged that Somaiya had collected approximately Rs 57 crore from various parts of Mumbai and had misused the funds.

The complaint was filed when the BJP was in opposition in Maharashtra and Uddhav Thackeray was the chief minister.

However, in their closure report, police said their investigation found no evidence of misuse of funds by Somaya and his son.