In a major revelation, some of the vehicles procured by the Mumbai Police earlier this year under the Nirbhaya Fund to fight crime against women are currently being used for providing Y-plus security to the MLAs and MPs of the Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, a police official said on Sunday. Opposition leaders criticised the move and sought answers from the Shinde-Fadnavis government.
Terming the action a “disgrace”, former state minister Aaditya Thackeray tweeted, “This is a disgrace. The monstrous ambition of one man, and the power hungry group wanting these perks, has led to our State being pulled backward and this circus goes on.” Thackeray said, “And while we read about SUVs bought from Nirbhaya Fund being used for security of Khoke Sarkar’s gaddars, this is another news that should hang everyone’s head in shame. In a state where a woman MP can be abused by a minister many times and no action is taken, what can we expect?” Calling the Shinde government “morally depraved,” AAP Maharashtra chief Preeti Sharma Menon said, “They used vehicles bought through the Nirbhaya fund for their own security! @BJP4Maharashtra is so anti-women!” According to the report, in June, the Mumbai Police purchased 220 Boleros, 35 Ertigas, 313 Pulsar bikes and 200 Activas at the cost of over Rs 30 crore using the Nirbhaya fund — a corpus set by the Centre in 2013 for state governments to implement schemes for the safety of women. By July, the vehicles had been distributed to police stations. However, with all the 40 MLAs and 12 MPs of the Shinde-led Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena faction, which is part of the ruling coalition in the state, being provided “Y-plus with escort” security, in July, 47 Boleros were urgently requisitioned from police stations by the Motor Transport department of the Mumbai Police following an order from the VIP Security Department. Of these 47 Boleros, 17 were returned and 30 are yet to be returned.