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Arrest of former Maharashtra minister Kokate delayed due to medical grounds
Lilavati Hospital authorities said he was unwell and scheduled to undergo coronary angiography on Friday evening
Mumbai: The Nashik police on Thursday could not arrest Manikrao Kokate, who resigned as Maharashtra minister after being stripped of his portfolios following his conviction in a 1995 cheating and forgery case, after Lilavati Hospital authorities said he was unwell and scheduled to undergo coronary angiography on Friday evening.
The Nashik police team recorded the statement of Dr Kuldeep, who heads the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital in Bandra West, on Thursday night.
Senior Inspector of the Nashik police crime branch Anchal Mudgal said they would wait until the angiography is over.
Kokate, who resigned from the council of ministers after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis put his foot down, has moved the High Court for relief, and the case will be heard on Friday afternoon.
Kokate sent his resignation to his boss, deputy chief minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar, on Thursday after Fadnavis told Pawar at a meeting that Kokate could not continue in the state cabinet in view of his conviction and a warrant issued for his arrest by a Nashik court.
The former minister was admitted on Wednesday after he complained of high blood pressure and a high heart rate.
Hospital sources said he underwent a CT angiography on Thursday and that there were heavy calcium deposits. The hospital claims that he may have blockages. Kokate is being treated by cardiologist Dr Suresh Vijan and senior pulmonologist Dr Jalil Parkar.
Kokate and his brother Vijay Kokate were convicted of using forged documents to obtain two flats in a prime locality in Nashik under the chief minister’s quota for economically weaker sections in 1995.
A team headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Sandeep Mitke, and consisting of Senior Inspector Mudgal, Suresh Awhad, senior inspector of Sarkarwada police, and Sub-Inspector Neelkanth Sonawane, is camping in Mumbai for Kokate’s arrest.
