MUMBAI, Oct. 26 -- NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Saturday fired a fresh salvo at Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat, whom he had accused of a land scam pertaining to a Navi Mumbai family two months ago. The complaint was filed based on the findings of the forest department's internal investigations, which stated that the accused used forged documents to claim ownership of the 'human reserve forest area' and received compensation from the state government. HT has copies of the letters. In August, Rohit had alleged that Shirsat, during his tenure as chairman of CIDCO, had illegally handed over a 15-acre prime plot in Navi Mumbai worth Rs.5,000 crore to the Biwalkar family, saying they were the original owners of the land, and received a kickback on the deal. The proposal for handing over the land was approved during the previous Shinde-led Mahayuti government. "By dismissing minister Sanjay Shirsat, the mastermind of this Rs.5,000-crore scam, the government can save its remaining credibility," Rohit posted on X on Saturday. He claimed that he had 12,500 such documents. On Saturday, Rohit requested the chief minister to drop him from the state cabinet. "By focusing on this issue, we could save around Rs.6,500 crore of the government and sons of the soil together," he added. Shirsat is yet to respond to the allegations. "In its report submitted to the urban development department, CIDCO, on February 13, 2023 itself admitted that the Biwalkar family has no ownership rights on the acquired land. Despite this, CIDCO allotted 61,749 square metres of land to the Biwalkar family worth Rs.1,410 crore. This was done even when the forest department was following up the matter with CIDCO," the letter submitted by N G Kokare, zonal forest officer (Uran), stated. The letter further said the Biwalkars and the developers had misled the state and had indulged in financial fraud, for which they should be booked for cheating, and forgery among other things. Under the scheme, CIDCO returns 12.5% of the land acquired from the project-affected-persons back to them in the form of developed land. The family claimed that CIDCO had acquired 150 acres of its land, part of the 5,000 acres owned by it spread across 15 villages around Navi Mumbai. Shirsat had already termed the allegations as "unfounded and baseless". The minister has now hinted at political retirement. Speaking to journalists, he said, "One has to do good work. But one can't always be in power. One must know when to stop. I was a corporator for 10 years and MLA for four terms. I don't know whether I will always be in power."...