MUMBAI: Former MP and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirit Somaiya was detained by Karad police while he was on his way to Kolhapur where he has said he would be lodging a complaint of corruption and financial irregularities against Maharashtra rural development minister Hasan Mushrif.

Somaiya had accused Mushrif of being involved in a Rs 127 crore money laundering scam and had said that he would visit and inspect the properties of Mushrif in the Satara district of Western Maharashtra.

Somaiya, who boarded the Mahalaxmi Express in Mumbai on Sunday night Tweeted about his detention, "Police stopped me at Karad under prohibitory order." He also informed that he would be addressing a press conference at the Karad Circuit house to expose more scams of Mushrif.

The police detained Somaiya followed prohibitory orders issued by the Kolhapur district collector Rahul Rekhewar under section 144 (1)(3) of CrPC citing threat to his life and the possibility of a law and order situation due to his visit.

Rekhewar's orders say that since the Ganpati immersions were going on all police force has been deployed for bandobast duty and thus it would not be possible to provide security to Somaiya.

A week ago, Somaiya had accused Mushrif and his family, including his son, of having created companies that in turn have had transactions with Kolkata-based shell companies and of being involved in a Rs 127 crore money laundering scam case.

Mushrif an influential leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from Kolhapur's Kagal assembly seat and has a strong support base in the region and is also the guardian minister of Ahmednagar District