SP MLC Eknath Khadse and his daughter have been booked on charges of duping an elderly woman by ensuring a sugar factory on her land and taking over it with the help of fake papers in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district, police said on Monday.
They said that the land in question was classified as ‘Mahar Watan’ and its possession was illegally seized in the name of former state minister Khadse’s daughter Sharda from the 82-year-old woman.
When contacted by PTI for his comments, Khadse claimed to have nothing to do with the land deal and termed the case an act of political vendetta.
It is worth noting that the lands of the “homeland” are “in’am” (a gift from the ruler to a subject). It refers to lands traditionally granted to members of the Mahar community (now in the Scheduled Caste category) as compensation for performing hereditary village duties by the previous rulers.
An official said the alleged fraud came to light after the victim, Chamilibai Tukaram Tayadi, filed a complaint on March 9 against Khadse, his daughter Sharda and other government officials with the Jalgaon District Superintendent of Police.
The economic crimes wing of Jalgaon police conducted a preliminary investigation into the complaint related to the deal that took place between 2002 and 2025, the official said.
After investigation, the police registered a case against Khadse and his daughter under BNS sections relating to fraud, cheating and forgery and also the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (the victim is a Dalit), according to the official.
According to the complainant, Khadse had given false assurances to the victim and her family members in 2002 regarding the establishment of a sugar factory on the “Maher Watan” land owned by her at Manpur Shivar in Jalgaon district, north of Maharashtra.
The veteran politician, a former BJP minister, assured good compensation and job opportunities to the family members of the complainant, police said quoting the complaint.
After deciding to buy the land, he gave the legislator $51,000 for the victim, with a guarantee for every member of her family $1 lakh from the management of the proposed sugar factory, they said.
Years later, in 2025, it was revealed that no sugar factory had ever been established on Earth. Khadse set up Tapi-Purna Sugar Allied Industries Ltd to implement the project and acquired the land by making amendments in documents. The opposition MLC allegedly tampered with the sale agreements and transferred the land in his daughter’s name in an unauthorized manner, according to the FIR.
The complainant alleged that Khadse and others conspired against her. She added that they seized the land between 2002 and 2025, exploiting the illiteracy of the woman and her family members without their knowledge.
The case was registered at Budwad police station and was later transferred for investigation to the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) at Muktai Nagar in Jalgaon, the official said.
According to the law, any case of illegal occupation of lands belonging to SC/ST members must be carried out by an officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) or SDPO.
However, Khadem denied any wrongdoing and insisted that his name had been dragged into the controversy due to political vendetta.
The NCP leader said, “The land deal took place decades ago, but suddenly some people woke up and dragged my name into this deal.”
Kadsa, a senior minister in the previous BJP-led government (2014-2019), resigned from the government in 2016 after he was accused of abusing his position to facilitate his wife and brother-in-law’s purchase of state-owned land in Pune district’s Bhosari Industrial Estate.
