BENGALURU: Founder and president of All India Mahila Empowerment Party (MEP) Nowhera Shaikh has been accused of conning a few party workers by allegedly collecting blank cheques from them for 'party fund'. A case has been filed against her and five others with the Jeevan Bima Nagar police and further investigations are on. A senior police officer from the station said, "A group of people, who are said to be the MEP candidates, approached us and we have filed an FIR."
The officer added, "One of the complaints, Ajjaiah H, has mentioned in his complaint that he was offered to contest from Hagaribommanahalli in Kudlagi, Belagavi and was asked to participate in the party meeting which was held at The Leela Palace hotel in Bengaluru, before the elections. Nowhera allegedly promised him that she would give him `28 lakh cash to spend for the elections as per the Election Commission norms. Then, she demanded a cheque of `50,000 as party fund and assured that each candidate would get the B-Form. Ajjaiah believed her as she made the announcement in an open meeting held in the hotel and handed over the cheque to her. Later, she allegedly demanded a blank cheque from him and promised to give `2 crore black money to him. Based on that, Ajjaiah gave a blank cheque."
"A few days later, when Ajjaiah tried to contact her over phone and in person, she started avoiding him. When he finally managed to meet her, he was threatened. She allegedly told him that she would go to any extent if he demanded money," the officer added.
"We are verifying the documents and also gathering evidences to take action against Nowhera and her associates. It is also said that she had given B-Form to many candidates for the same constituency," the police officer added.
‘Baseless complaint’
When New Indian Express contacted Vandana, the spokesperson and the state advisory committee member of MEP said, "It is a baseless complaint. The party had only promised to give material for campaigning. The allegations of giving money or taking blank cheques are cooked up stories to spoil Nowhera Shaikh's image."