AAP levels graft charges against Maharashtra minister

Mumbai, Aug 17 (PTI) Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) todayalleged a Rs 525-crore scam in Jalna Agricultural ProduceMarket Committee (APMC) under the chairmanship of MaharashtraMinister Arjun Khotkar, who rejected the charge. Addressing a press conference here, AAP nationalspokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon accused the Shiv Sena leaderof "looting" Jalna APMC and treating it like his fiefdom. As Chairman of the APMC since the last nine years,Khotkar ran the committee like his private empire and madehuge profits illegally, she said and demanded his ouster fromthe Council of Ministers, where he was inducted last month. Menon alleged there was a scam of Rs 525 crore in theAPMC, where ‘galas’ (shops) were sold, leased and sub-leasedillegally. She said galas were sold with inflated price andalleged nepotism in their ownership. "Out of 1,500 galas, 250 are illegally owned byKhotkar’s 40 relatives and his business partners in the twomarkets of APMC." "The real value of the galas comes to aroundRs 600 crore, but only Rs 75 crore went to the APMC and therest Rs 525 crore was pocketed by Khotkar and his cronies,"the AAP leader said. Menon said figures and information provided by herwere based on replies received from authorities concerned inresponse to RTI applications filed by her. Showing a few purported sting operations to the mediapersons, she claimed the entire APMC market, where farmcommodities were sold by traders, was riddled with corruption. She said, "flouting all rules, the galas are used tostock and sell non-agricultural items like steel, pipes,furniture, automobiles, textiles." The APMC market in Purana Monda area, which is calledArjun Khotkar Business Centre (AKBC), boasts of a string oftextile showrooms, the AAP leader said. Besides the financial scam, APMC also violated auditnorms, she said. "Annual audit reports are replete with remarks aboutmalpractices and misappropriations but no corrective actionhas been taken," Menon said. The AAP spokesperson asked Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis to sack Khotkar and said she will file a case againsthim with Anti-Corruption Bureau and also write to the ChiefJustice of India. Khotkar, a four-time Sena MLA from Jalna in NorthMaharashtra, termed the allegations as completely baseless andpolitically motivated, and said "rules and regulations werestrictly followed while carrying out business of the APMC". The Minister of State for Textile, Animal Husbandry,Dairy Development and Fisheries claimed Menon’s allegationswere based on incomplete information and said he will addressa press meet tomorrow and reply to her charges. PTI APM MM RSYSRYBAS