Maharashtra: Fadnavis Govt orders probe against another ex-NCP minister

Mumbai, Jan 1: A day after approving probe into graft charges against State Congress leaders, the BJP-led government in Maharashtra on Thursday ordered ACB probe against another former minister and senior NCP leader.

As per an

report, Maharashtra Home department headed by Chief Minister

has forwarded the file for an 'open inquiry' against former Maharashtra Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Laxman Dhoble in a disproportionate assets case to the Chief Secretary Swadhin Kshatriya.

Dhoble, who was an MLA from Mohol constituency in Solapur, was minister during the UPA government in the state. He is accused of having assets worth hundreds of crores. Interestingly, many of the complaints against Dhoble were made by local NCP activists from Solapur itself.

Earlier on Wednesday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis asked the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) to probe the role of former Congress Minister Harshwardhan Patil and Legislative Council member Amrish Patel in an alleged cooperative bank scam.

The file recommending an "open inquiry" into the matter has been forwarded to Chief Secretary Swadhin Kshatriya. After his approval, the proposal will be placed before Fadnavis for final clearance.

"We sent the file to the Chief Secretary two days ago. From there, it will go to the CM office," Additional Chief Secretary Amitabh Rajan told reporters.

However, the senior bureaucrat declined to disclose if the file contains names of Harshwardhan Patil and others.

The Chief Minister had earlier this month allowed ACB to launch probe into allegations of graft against former NCP ministers Ajit Pawar, Sunil Tatkare, and Chhagan Bhujbal.

Fadnavis had also cleared proposals placed before him for open inquiries against senior civil servants. The ACB had sought permission for an open inquiry in the alleged cooperative bank scam in September after its preliminary investigations found merit in allegations of corruption raised on the issue.

OneIndia News