In October 2023, electoral bonds worth over Rs 11 crore were purchased in the name of six members of a Dalit family from Anjar, a small uneventful city in Gujarat’s Kutch district.
As per SBI data released by the Election Commission of India, of these, bonds worth Rs 10 crore were encashed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) within five days after it was deposited and those worth Rs 1.14 crore were encashed by the Shiv Sena two days after that.
The Dalit family, however, has now alleged that they were “tricked” into buying these electoral bonds by an official of Welspun Enterprises Ltd.
“Welspun had acquired approximately 43,000 sq metre of our agricultural land in Anjar for a project. This money was part of the compensation we were given as per law. But at the time of depositing this money, Mahendrasinh Sodha, a manager at the company, told us that such a huge amount can result in trouble with the income tax department…He then introduced us to the electoral bond scheme, which he said would ensure that we get 1.5 times the amount in a few years. We are illiterate people. We had no clue what this scheme was but at that time it sounded very convincing,” Haresh Savakara, 41, alleged.
Haresh is the son of Savakara Manvar, one of the six members of the family that claims they were tricked into purchasing the bonds.
Savakara, on 18 March 2024, submitted a complaint regarding the matter to officials at Anjar Police Station.
The complaint names Welspun directors Vishwanathan Kollengode, Sanjay Gupta, Chintan Thaker, and Praveen Bhansali as the accused in the case along with Mahendrasinh Sodha (Senior General Manager at Welspun), Vimal Kishore Joshi (Anjar Land Acquisition Officer), and Hemant alias Danny Rajinikanth Shah (BJP’s Anjar City President).
The police are yet to register an FIR in connection with the case. Shailendra Sisodia, the Investigating Officer in the case said, “He has sent us an application. We are still looking into it. Once the investigation is done, and if the case merits an FIR, we will file one.”
The complainants alleged in August 2023, the district administration approved the sale of their land to Welspun for Rs 16,61,21,877. Of this Rs 2,80,15,000 were paid in advance while the remaining Rs 13,81,09,877 were transferred to joint holders of the acquired land.”
The complainants further alleged that “between 1 October 2023 and 8 October 2023, Mahendrasinh Sodha, involved in the acquisition process, held four meetings with Savakara and his son Haresh and convinced them to invest money in the electoral bond scheme citing income tax trouble and handsome returns.”
The money was first credited to the accounts of the family members and later debited at SBI’s Gandhinagar branch.
Savakara, in his complaint, also alleged that BJP Anjar City President Hemant Rajinikanth Shah was part of these meetings.
Shah, however, said, “I have no idea what this case is.”
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