Maharashtra NCP minister Kokate resigns; Nashik police in Mumbai with arrest warrant

NASHIK: NCP minister Manikrao Kokate on Thursday resigned from his post in the state cabinet in the wake of his conviction and two years of jail sentence in an EWS housing quota cheating case of 1995.

A team of Nashik police reached Mumbai late in the evening to execute the arrest warrant issued against him by a Nashik court. However, sources said no arrest would be made while Kokate was still in hospital against medical advice from the doctors. The police earlier visited the residence of Kokate's brother, Vijay, who is also facing the warrant but could not trace him.

Officials in the Maharashtra Chief Minister's Office (CMO) on Thursday night confirmed that Kokate's resignation has been forwarded to the Governor.

Hours earlier, deputy chief minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar said in a post on X that he has accepted in principle Kokate's resignation and forwarded it to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for "due consideration and acceptance, in accordance with the Constitutional procedure".

Kokate's resignation followed a series of developments over the last two days, starting with a Nashik sessions court upholding and confirming on Dec 16 the trial court's order of Feb 20 convicting and sentencing Kokate and his brother to two years of rigorous imprisonment in the case of securing two flats in 1995 under the state's 10% EWS quota by showing less income. The sessions court directed the trial court to take appropriate steps to execute the jail sentences.

On Wednesday, Kokate was divested of all his ministerial portfolios, hours after Nashik's additional chief judicial magistrate Rupali Narwadiya rejected a plea by Kokate's lawyer seeking four days' time on humanitarian grounds to surrender as Kokate was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai. The court went on to issue the arrest warrant. All eyes were on the Nashik police regarding execution of the warrant.

A 13-member Nashik police team, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Sandeep Mitke, left Nashik around 5.30pm on Thursday for Mumbai. "We have received the arrest warrant, and we are in the process of executing it. We are going to Mumbai to take Manikrao Kokate into custody and produce him before the court. We received information that Kokate has been admitted to the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai. We are going there to secure his custody."

The police are also searching for Kokate's brother, Vijay. A seven-member Nashik police squad is pursuing leads relating to Vijay Kokate's whereabouts. "A second team is working on the leads and has tracked him down. The team is after him. We expect to take him into custody soon," the officer said.

(With inputs from Mumbai)