An FIR was registered against Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar and 11 others in Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh, alleging misappropriation of funds collected by a villager for managing educational facilities for tribal students. Used for “political and anti-national agenda”. , police said on Sunday.
Patkar dismissed the allegations against him as “false” and said that he had a complete account and audit of the expenses and indicated the political reasons behind the allegations.
Barwani Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar Shukla told PTI over phone that the case was registered against Medha Patkar and others following a personal complaint in which the complainant has provided certain documents.
“Since the matter pertains to past transactions, a detailed inquiry will be conducted,” he said. An FIR was lodged at Barwani police station on Saturday on the complaint of Pritamraj Badole, resident of Temla elderly village.
Badole has alleged that Narmada Navnirman Abhiyan (NNA), a Mumbai-registered trust, misappropriated funds collected to run residential educational facilities for tribal students of Narmada Valley in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, according to the FIR.
The complainant said that NNA had received Rs 13.50 crore from various sources in the last 14 years, but these funds were used for “political and anti-national agenda” which needs investigation.
The names named in the FIR are Medha Patkar, Parveen Rumi Jehangir, Vijaya Chauhan, Kailash Avasya, Mohan Patidar, Ashish Mandloi, Kewal Singh Vasave, Sanjay Joshi, Shyam Patil, Sunit SR, Noorji Padvi and Keshav Vasave.
The matter is related to two states- Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Verification of documents and facts will be done and all concerned will be allowed to present their side and facts. The SP said that further legal steps will be taken according to the facts that emerge during the investigation. Denying the allegations, Patkar said that he is yet to receive any information from the police about the incident (FIR registered).
Patkar claimed that this is not the first time that such allegations are being leveled against him and said that he is ready to answer all of them as there is a complete account and audit of funds available.
She alleged that the complainant may be associated with the RSS and ABVP and reiterated that her organization does not receive funds from abroad and all finances are thoroughly audited annually.
The funds were properly utilized and the ‘Jeevanshalas’ being run at present are there for the last three decades. This organization has been engaged in rehabilitation for decades. He has always responded to such allegations with documents,” Patkar said.
However, the worker also said that he did not deal with money and expenses, which are taken care of by other functionaries.
Patkar, who claimed that there is a debate going on in the country on ‘nationalism’ (nationalism) and “sedition (sedition),” said there could be political reasons behind the case or it could be a conspiracy to defame.
“Those who do the right thing by asking questions about the system are called anti-nationals. The public will decide,” she said.
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