Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Ravindra Waikar, five others booked for cheating over construction of luxury hotel in Mumbai

The BMC had given land to the Supremo Club at Jogeshwari to run a sports facility but Waikar allegedly used his clout to obtain permission to facilitate the construction of a five-star hotel there causing loss to the civic body.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai police has registered a case against Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Ravindra Waikar and five others in connection with the construction of a luxury hotel in a western suburb, an official said on Friday.

According to the official, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had given land to the Supremo Club at Jogeshwari to run a sports facility but Waikar allegedly used his clout to obtain permission to facilitate the construction of a five-star hotel there causing loss to the civic body.

This amounted to a violation of the agreement with the BMC about the use of the land, he said.

The case was registered on Thursday on the complaint of a BMC official at the Azad Maidan police station, the official said.

The FIR (first information report) has been registered for cheating, criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy and dishonestly including delivery of property, the official said. Waikar’s wife has also been named in the FIR, he said.

Earlier, the EOW had launched a preliminary inquiry after BJP leader Kirit Somaiya alleged that Waikar illegally obtained approval for the construction of a five-star hotel on a plot reserved for a garden by using his political clout which caused losses to the BMC.

In his complaint, Somaiya alleged the “scam” was worth Rs 500 crore.

The EOW then sent notices to officials of the BMC’s Garden and Building Department asking them to join the investigation.

Waikar has been an MLA from Jogeshwari East for three consecutive terms since 2009 and was a minister in the Devendra Fadnavis cabinet between 2014 and 2019.

He was a BMC corporator from 1992 to 2010 and served as chairman of the powerful Standing Committee of the civic body between 2006 and 2010.