Maneka Gandhi severs tainted Mumbai arm of her organisation

(From left) Lata Parmar, Bimlesh Navani and Mohit Chawre

People for Animals Chairperson Maneka Gandhi has revoked its Mumbai Unit-1, following mid-day's report on how the unit's head Lata Parmar and her team were found threatening and extorting money from pet parents across the city. This comes after the police sent a notice to the booked accused, who are yet to respond, seeking their statements. After mid-day's expose on the extortion racket, PFA units across the country were impacted.

When contacted by mid-day, Gandhi refused to comment on the issue. However, in a post on Twitter, she said Parmar and her team no longer work with PFA. The post read: "'''IMPORTANT''' A decision has been taken to dissolve the People For Animals, Mumbai Unit-1. As on 15.04.2022, the PFA Mumbai Unit 1 ceases to exist."

DCP Vijay Patil told mid-day, "We have registered the FIR and also called Lata Parmar and other accused many times for the statements but they are not responding. We also sent them a second notice to be present at the police station."

Maneka Gandhi, MP and chairman, People For Animals

Vijay Rangare, president of PFA Unit-2 in Mumbai, told mid-day, "This FIR and the article on Lata Parmar has badly affected us. I circulated a message to everyone stating that my unit is not connected with Lata Parmar and works separately from her."

He added, "Earlier, I used to work as an individual but later joined Maneka Gandhi's organisation. Parmar had also prepared a group of 27 animal lovers and sent out a message that read, ‘Beware of these Animal Welfare people.' She also sent the message to PFA chief Maneka Gandhi. The message had gone viral in 2019 when I applied for PFA membership. But I later realised that the people listed, including Senior Inspector Sudhir Kudalkar, genuinely work for animals."

"I immediately called Maneka Gandhi and she said the list was not genuine. She also gave me an offer to work with Parmar, but I refused. My team of 25 members works for animals. I verified the backgrounds of all people before letting them join," Rangare further said.

Lata Parmar and her team with a Dalmatian dog and his caretaker (right) in Thane

An animal lover on the condition of anonymity told mid-day, "The terrorism of Lata Parmar increased in the city, and in just two years she got the post of president. She is not only harassing and extorting people but also harassing animal lovers and activists in the city. She wants all the credit even if she is not involved. Parmar also interferes in our work while rescuing the animals. We are happy with Maneka Gandhi's decision. Our work is to help the animals and stop animal cruelty."

An animal lover, who runs NGO Salim Charania and had filed a writ petition in the high court against Parmar for misusing her power and filing 55 false complaints against him at various police stations, said, "In 2020, the raid was conducted at my house in Vasai where I kept stray dogs for allegedly breeding dogs and selling them. However, the police did not find anything against me. Parmar targeted me as my NGO was working in the market. She used to call the police and Maneka Gandhi to complain against me. VVMC doctors also gave me a clean chit. Then I filed a writ petition in the high court against her. The police should take the strictest action against her."

Vijay Rangare, president of PFA Unit-2 in Mumbai

A victim, Dr Dattatray Bhausaheb Raje from Kalyan said, "My clinic in Kalyan was shut down after Lata Parmar and her team in December 2021 informed Tilak Nagar police station that I was running a racket of breeding dogs at my clinic. They even got Maneka Gandhi and BMC officers involved. The cops filed the case but did not arrest me. But the civic body shut down my clinic. Helping animals is
not a crime."

Assistant doctor Kuldeep Mukane, a victim, said, "In January, we performed a surgery on a cat. After a month the owner came to us complaining that the cat had an infection. At that time, Lata Parmar had demanded Rs 1 lakh from us to not register a complaint. She also approached Gandhi and got Anchole police station to file a case against us."

27
No. of members in Parmar's team