Surat, June 30: The Pandesara police have arrested the south Gujarat president of Shiv Sena and a BJP leader on gambling charges. The police have seized Rs 15,000 cash and 10 cellphones from their possession.
Acting on a tip-off, the police raided house no. 106 of Avirbhav Society-2 in Pandesara on Sunday evening and found several people involved in gambling.
Those arrested include Kalyan Sonar (south Gujarat president of Shiv Sena), Bhikha Patil (BJP leader in Pandesara), Shantaram Kishan, Raju Patil, Dinesh Shrawan, Manoj Magan, Mohan Bhagwan, Santosh Devchand, Hiren Shantaram, Dinesh Abhinav, Ravi Sindha, Hiren Bholerao, Sukhdev Patil and Satish Patil, all residents of Pandesara.
According to the police, the house was owned by Kalpana, the wife of Bhikha Patil. Kalpana is a member of the Modi Samarthak Mahila Mandal. All the arrested were taken to the Pandesara police station and two municipal councillors reportedly pressurised the police not to file any charges, but legal action against all the arrested were taken, the police said.
—–Agencies