The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has initiated a probe against the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction in connection with an alleged cheating and forgery case, the officials said on Tuesday. According to Mumbai Police, the probe was initiated against the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction after the Eknath Shinde-led party filed a complaint that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena) withdrew Rs 50 crores from the party fund even after the Election Commission declared the Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena.
Earlier, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena met Mumbai police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar to lodge a police complaint for cheating and forgery against the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena UBT functionaries claiming that they were misusing the party’s PAN and TAN details and fraudulently filing the TDS and Income Tax returns of Shiv Sena. The EOW has also written to the Income Tax Department seeking information regarding who is paying the tax of the UBT faction, the Mumbai Police said.
“EOW begins probe after Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) complained against Shiv Sena (UBT faction) that Shiv Sena (UBT faction) withdrew Rs 50 crores from party fund even after the Election Commission declared Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena. EOW has also written to the Income Tax Department seeking information regarding who is paying the tax of the UBT faction,” the Mumbai Police said. The Election Commission of India (ECI) on February 17, 2023, recognised Eknath Shinde’s faction as the “real” Shiv Sena, nearly eight months after his rebellion split the parent party into two factions.
The poll body had also announced that Shinde’s team will get the ‘bow-and-arrow’ symbol, the original party symbol. After the coup, the poll body had frozen the bow-and-arrow symbol and allotted the ‘two swords and shield’ symbol to the Shinde, and the ‘flaming torch’ symbol to the Uddhav Thackeray camp. The two factions had staked claim to both the party symbol and the party name and knocked on the doors of courts and the poll body.
