Kolhapur mayor in edu-scam

A political scandal has Kolhapur riveted with the actorsaccusing each other of duplicity and one of them being assaulted. Simply put, acandidate filed a case against Amol Potdar for taking money on the premise thathe would ensure jobs in the Swami Vivekanand Education trust.

The complainant has claimed that he has given Amol Rs. 5lakhs. During the course of the interrogation Amol admitted to taking moneyfrom 125-150 candidates and also revealed that the amount had been collected onbehalf of Sharangdhar Deshmukh, the mayor of Kolhapur. The investigationsrevealed that Amol had collected between Rs 5 to 15 lakhs from 90 people inKolhapur.

It was alleged that after Amol was released on bail, he was kidnappedby Mr. Deshmukh and assaulted.  AdvocateMadhavi Potdar sister of the Amol had also accused Deshmukh, saying that herbrother was only a mediator. Investigation came to the conclusion that themayor was the prime accused. Despite this he was not arrested due to his linkswith the political class.  He laterabsconded for four months nad then surrendered to the police after the courtdismissed his plea. Surprisingly, he was released on bail after two hours.

Abhaykumar Salunke secretary of the Vivekanand educationtrust said they did not have any links with Deshmukh or with Amol. He said “Wedid not give them any contract”. However what cannot be disputed is that thecndidates received communication on the letterhead of the trust.

After being released Deshmukh maintained that he wasinnocent. He said “ I have full faith in judiciary and I will prove that I amnot guilty” Deshmukh said. Soon after, the sister of Amol was attacked in Mumbai. Madhavi calimed Deshmukh wasbehind this attack.

Recently, the Kolhapur police has received a complaintagainst Bal Potdar father of Amol and it was alleged in the complaint that hehas also taken the bribe promising the jobs in the same institution.Superintendent of Police Vijaysingh Jadhav has said that investigation werebeing conducted.