Mumbai, May 23 -- The recovery of a stash of cash from a government guest house in Dhule, in north Maharashtra, generated controversy in the state's corridors of power on Thursday, with legislators trading allegations at one another and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis ordering probe by a special investigation team (SIT) into the matter. It all started when Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders in Dhule accompanied by their leader Anil Gote (a former MLA with the BJP till 2019) found Rs.1.8 crore cash in the guest house's room number 102 on Wednesday. The leaders alleged that the money was collected by contractors, who have undertaken government projects, to bribe members of the Estimates Committee of the legislature, whose chairman is Shiv Sena MLA Arjun Khotkar. Their claim was also endorsed by Sena (UBT) MLA Sanjay Raut. The allegations soon grew sharper with Sena (UBT) leaders claiming that the room was booked in the name of Kishor Patil, "Khotkar's personal assistant". Khotkar and members of the committee, who are on a visit to Dhule to follow up on government projects' spends, denied that they had anything to do with the stash. "Soon after we reached the guest house around 7pm, the people who were residing there ran away after locking the room. I sat outside the room, accompanied by my party leaders, as we had information that there was cash inside amounting to Rs.5 crore. Cops eventually arrived at around midnight and found Rs.1.8 crore," said Gote. On Thursday morning, Raut alleged, "Police did not turn up for hours. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis should order an inquiry into the matter, and the anti-corruption bureau should also look into it." "The whole truth must come out. The episode puts a question mark on a legislature's committee which cannot be tolerated. The honour and dignity of the state legislature has to be upheld. So, an SIT will be formed to investigate the money trail," said CM Fadnavis, adding that he would "request the speaker of the legislative assembly to conduct a probe through Ethics Committee of the state legislature". "All the allegations are baseless. We have nothing to do with the money seized; we have not visited the guest house at all. It is likely that someone planted the money to defame us," Khotkar told HT. Meanwhile, the chairperson of the state legislature Ram Shinde announced on Thursday evening that the desk officer of the state legislature Patil, "who is suspected in the case has been suspended and inquiry will be conducted soon". Kishor Kale, additional superintendent of police, Dhule, said: "We have informed the income tax department about the seized cash and an inquiry has been initiated."...