NCP leader and former sports and youth affairs minister Manikrao Kokate will undergo angiography on Friday morning, following which a decision about his custody will be taken, officials said, reported news agency PTI.
A team of Nashik City Police reached Bandra on Thursday night along with a non-bailable warrant issued against Kokate, an official said.
In the early hours, the team led by ACP Sandeep Mitke reached Lilavati hospital in Bandra and discussed Kokate`s custody with doctors who are treating him, he said, reported PTI.
Doctors informed police that Kokate will undergo an angiography test in the morning, and if the reports are normal, then he can be discharged from the hospital.
Accordingly, the team of Nashik Police recorded statements of the doctors who are treating Kokate.
If Kokate gets discharged, Nashik Police will serve a non-bailable warrant to him and will take his custody, the official said, reported PTI.
The court recently upheld Kokate`s two-year sentence in a cheating and forgery case in which he had allegedly secured flats under an EWS quota through forged documents in 1995.
Kokate resigns after court verdict in cheating case
Nationalist Congress Party minister Manikrao Kokate has resigned from the Maharashtra Cabinet following a court verdict upholding his conviction and two-year jail term in a 1995 cheating and forgery case, becoming the second NCP minister to quit this year, reported PTI.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the NCP, on Thursday said Kokate sent his resignation letter to him, which has been accepted and forwarded to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Pawar noted the resignation of his party and cabinet colleague, who held Sports and Youth Welfare, Minority Development, and Aukaf portfolios in the BJP-led Mahayuti government, follows a court verdict and affirmed his party places supremacy of law above individuals.
The development comes two days after the Nashik district and sessions court upheld the order of a first-class judicial magistrate, confirming a sentence of two years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50,000 against Kokate in the cheating and forgery case linked to a government housing scheme. The court also issued an arrest warrant against him on Wednesday.
The Deputy CM said Kokate`s resignation letter has been accepted in principle, keeping with the party`s long standing stance that laws and rules are paramount.
(With inputs from PTI)
