Ravindra Waikar appears before EOW to record his statement in charge made by Kirit Somaiya

Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Ravindra Waikar went before the Mumbai police Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Saturday to record his statement in a charge made by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya accusing him of being involved in a scam, according to an official. Somaiya said in his case filed earlier this year that Waikar was involved in a Rs 500 crore scam.

Waikar reached the city police's head office around 10 am and his statement is being recorded, the police official said. EOW has launched a preliminary inquiry into Waikar based on Somaiya's complaint, he said. EOW has sent notices to senior officials of the Garden and Building Department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to join the investigation, he added.

As per Somaiya's allegation, Waikar illegally obtained approval for the construction of a five-star hotel on a plot reserved for a garden.Waikar used his political ties to get this approval, causing a huge loss to the BMC, the complaint alleged. EOW conducts preliminary enquiry in every complaint it receives. But no first information report (FIR) has been registered yet in this case and investigation is underway, the official added. Waikar represents the Jogeshwari East assembly constituency in Mumbai.