ACB sees ‘illegal’ wealth, PMC officer suspended

In the suspension order, the civic administration said the ACB carried out investigations into the assets of Shelar, for the period from September 1995 to December 2013. The ACB claimed that Shelar owns unaccounted property worth Rs 63.38 lakh (43.21 per cent of total assets).

An offence has been registered against Shelar at Dattawadi police station. It has been communicated to the civic body. The ACB has sought permission of the civic body to file a chargesheet against Shelar and the civic chief has given his consent based on documents submitted to the civic administration.

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“The policy to weed out corruption from the government system is getting affected after an offence of disproportionate assets was filed against Shelar. It damaged the image of PMC and the civic administration is facing criticism. Thus, he is being suspended as per provisions of the Municipal Corporation Act,” the order said.

In 2013, it was revealed that 13 flats of Saraswati Apartment in Warje were owned by Sharda Shelar, wife of Shelar who was then chief of civic anti-encroachment department. A mobile tower was erected on the roof of the same building and the parking area was used for commercial purposes but there was no payment of property tax. A tax of Rs 6.11 lakh was paid with immediate effect and the civic administration cleared the parking area of encroachments.