Mumbai Police's EOW closes INS Vikrant fund case against BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, his son

Mumbai: The Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has closed a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust registered against BJP leader Kirit Somaiya and his son Neil for alleged diversion of funds collected under their 'Save INS Vikrant' campaign, an official said on Thursday.

The EOW officials, who probed the case, submitted a closure report before a local court on Wednesday, he said.

There were allegations that Somaiya and some others had collected more than Rs 57 crore for the restoration of the decommissioned naval aircaraft carrier Vikrant. However, instead of depositing the amount to the Maharashtra governor's secretary office, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader allegedly misappropriated the funds.

"In the investigation, the police did not find any criminality in the case against Somaiya and his son, following which the C-Summary (closure) report was filed," he said.

The first information report (FIR) against the Somaiyas was registered at the Trombay police station here in April this year based on the complaint lodged by a former Army personnel, who claimed that he had donated Rs 2,000 in 2013 for the campaign.

The complainant had alleged misappropriation of funds collected under the campaign for saving INS Vikrant.

Commissioned in 1961, INS Vikrant, a Majestic-class aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy, had played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. It was decommissioned in 1997. There was a demand to convert the warship into a museum. But in January 2014, the ship was sold through an online auction and scrapped in November that year.