In a serious allegation, Ambadas Danve, the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, claimed that a large-scale betting operation is ongoing with the assistance of senior officers from the Mumbai Police Department. He presented a pen drive containing a conversation related to the betting activity to the Chairman of the Legislative Council.
Danve further accused individuals like Mehul Jain, Kamlesh Jain, and Hiren Jain of being involved in the betting racket, stating that Pakistani players were being used for this purpose. According to him, after betting was carried out through an app called “Lotus 24” during the recently held Champions Trophy, these individuals have now come to Mumbai for the IPL.
While addressing the Council, Danve also pointed out several scams in the state’s transport, CIDCO, revenue, and health departments, along with corruption allegations against ministers and officers. He criticized the government for its poor handling of these issues and expressed concerns over the deteriorating financial situation of the state.
He also pointed out that the state has not released the “Crime in Maharashtra” report for the past two years. There have been 564 criminal cases registered, including riot-related incidents. The number of rape cases has increased in cities like Nagpur, Pune, and Sambhajinagar, with 22 rapes and 45 molestation cases occurring daily. Danve attributed these incidents to the lack of fear of the law.
In his speech, Danve also highlighted the alarming situation in Maharashtra’s prisons, which have a capacity to hold 27,114 inmates, yet 43,000 prisoners are currently confined. He raised concerns about the state’s rising cases of fraud, with ₹51,000 crores lost in scams, and emphasized the need for a more effective Cyber Cell to combat cybercrimes.
Danve also mentioned the recent break-in at actor Saif Ali Khan’s residence, where an attempt was made to harm him, and criticized the government’s inability to act on the Beed Massajog Sarpanch murder case, where the accused Krishna Andhale is still at large. He also cited the death of Somnath Suryavanshi due to police brutality, as revealed in the Human Rights Commission’s report.
Expressing his frustration, Danve remarked that while the government could change the course of a minister’s son’s plane flying abroad, it failed to take action against the perpetrators who assaulted Suryavanshi.
He also questioned the safety of ordinary girls, referring to the recent harassment of Central Minister Raksha Tai Khadse’s daughter, and asked, “If this happens to a minister’s daughter, what would be the situation for common girls?”
