Police find Rs 1.8 crore at govt guest house; Fadnavis says SIT to probe

Nashik/Mumbai: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Thursday a special investigation team (SIT) would be set up to probe the discovery of Rs 1.84 crore inside the locked room of a govt guest house in Dhule.The cash was seized by police early on Thursday during a search operation prompted by a tip-off, authorities said. Hours later, state legislative council chairperson Ram Shinde said in a tweet that Kishore Patil, a section officer in the state legislature, had been suspended in connection with the incident and an investigation would be opened. Police said no FIR has been registered yet. "We received information about the cash late on Wednesday evening," said additional superintendent of police Kishor Kale. "Counting of the money went on till early hours of Thursday. The guest house room has been sealed. And we're now investigating who the cash belonged to," Kale said, adding that the income tax department has been notified.Shortly after news broke of the cash seizure, former MLA and Shiv Sena UBT member Anil Gote, at a press conference on Thursday, alleged the money was meant for Arjun Khotkar, an MLA of Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the chairperson of the Estimates Committee of the state legislature, which scrutinizes spending of public money by govt. The Committee was slated to visit the location to review development works in Dhule district.Gote claimed when he and other party members learnt about the cash seizure on Wednesday, they rushed to the guest house. "The room the cash was found in was booked under the name of Kishor Patil. Patil is also Khotkar's assistant and had been staying at the guest house for the last couple of days," he said, adding that despite demanding immediate action, police only reached the spot at 11pm. "They broke down the door and seized the money. Panchanama was carried out around 4am," he said at the press conference.Gote demanded an investigation be led by either divisional commissioner Praveen Gedam or senior IAS officer Tukaram Munde. He claimed the money was meant for "11 members" of the state Estimates Committee.Khotkar rejected the allegations. "He (Gote) is in the habit of making such baseless allegations. I checked with Patil and he clarified he had booked a different room and not the one in question. The investigators must determine if the money at the guest house was planted to defame the Estimates Committee and state govt," he said.Later in the day, CM Fadnavis said in Mumbai the allegations would indeed be probed. "We have therefore decided to appoint an SIT, to find out who was responsible for the cash and if it was demanded by someone," he said.In a post on X on Wednesday night, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut alleged that more than Rs 5 crore was found in the room. ‘When the legislature estimates committee visited Dhule district today (Wednesday), about five and a half crore rupees were kept in room number 102 at the Dhule government rest house Gulmohar for giving bribe to the committee," the Rajya Sabha member claimed.Ram Shinde told TOI on Thursday: "While a police investigation is on, we have also decided to conduct a parallel inquiry. For that, a committee will be set up by Friday. Meanwhile, we have suspended section officer Kishore Patil, under whose name the guest house room was booked. We want a transparent inquiry, which is why instead of waiting for the committee to submit its report, we have decided to first suspend the officer and then conduct the parallel inquiry."— With inputs from Clara Lewis & Anurag Bende