Cops step in after high drama at Siddharth College

“Moray’s fraud came to light in a audit report,following which he was issued a show-cause notice. We did not file a police complaint against Moray and gave him a chance to explain the situation. However,his reply was not satisfactory and the members removed him in January 2011,” said Patil,who is also the assistant secretary of the governing body.

Patil added,“Even after being removed from the governing body,Moray and Gaikwad continued to work as the members. Moray even handled money transactions until he was restricted in May 2011. Moray and Gaikwad created a ruckus saying they were the only legal members out of the 11 members of the body. While the original governing body was functioning,the duo appointed five other members and formed a separate illegal governing body. They were conducting a meeting of this illegal governing body on Thursday morning. So I was forced to seek the help of police to restrict Moray and other illegal members from entering the college premises.”

Yashwant Thorawade,police inspector from the Azad Maidan police station,said,“A meeting of trustees and the governing body was scheduled on Thursday in the college. We sensed that it could lead to a serious problem. We were already informed about the issue by the members of PES and the principal. Subsequently,our officers were stationed outside the college on Thursday morning.”

However,Moray and Gaikwad have refuted the allegations and claimed all other members in the governing body,except them,are illegal as their names are not listed with the charity commissioner. Gaikwad said,“Only three names are listed with the charity commissioner—his,Moray’s and K H Ranganath,who is currently the chairman of the governing body. However,Ranganath and his supporters in the body have removed us. They have accused us of fund misappropriation,but the audit reports are wrong.”

He added,“ I have been associated with PES for 32 years,and now,I have been accused of committing a fraud. They issued me a letter on June 11,2011 stating they have removed me as a member. We have conducted the meeting at Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh at the scheduled time.”