Maharashtra Transport Minister surrenders

Mumbai, May 13: Maharashtra Transport Minister Surupsingh Naik, who was sentenced to one-month simple imprisonment by the Supreme Court on Wednesday for contempt of court, surrendered to the police early today.

Talking to UNI, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) A P Sinha confirmed that the minister surrendered to the police at around 0400 hrs and was shifted to Thane Central jail at about 0630 hrs.

Surprisingly, nobody accompanied him, jail authorities said.

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary D K Sankaran told UNI that state Additional Chief Secretary (General Administration) Ashok Khot, who was also punished by the apex court along with the minister in the same case, is likely to surrender later in the day.

Mr Naik and Mr Khot were sentenced to one-month simple imprisonment for violation of the Supreme Court orders of 1997, which directed closure of over 100 saw mills operating from the reserve forest area.

Mr Naik was the state Forest Minister and Mr Khot was Principal Forest Secretary in 2004, when they permitted six saw mills to operate from the reserve forest area in the state.

UNI