Nawab Malik has direct connection with the underworld, alleges Fadnavis; Malik to reveal Fadnavis’ underworld links tomorrow

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November 9, 2021

Addressing a press conference, the former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said he had documents of five such property deals and would hand over the same to the appropriate authorities. He would also submit the documents to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar to let him know what his party functionaries were indulging in.

Devendra accused Maharashtra cabinet minister Nawab Malik and his family of purchasing a 2.80-acre plot from Mohammad Salim Patel, a “frontman” of Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parker from Badshah Khan, a 1993 blast convict, in 2005.

“There is a direct connection with the underworld. I have documents of five property deals. Four properties were purchased connected with the underworld. I will ascertain which appropriate authorities, whether it is the police, ED, NIA, and hand it over to them,” Fadnavis said. He further stated that “Malik did business with people involved in blasts that shook Mumbai. He purchased land from convicts of the case at rates cheaper than market prices. Was this deal to save prime land from being forfeited under TADA law?”.

The BJP leader’s allegations against the minister came in the wake of a series of controversies following the arrest of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan in a drugs bust case aboard a Goa-bound cruise last month. Malik has accused the Narcotics Control Bureau’s (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede of partnering with some BJP leaders in an extortion attempt in the case, besides levelling other charges. Allegations and counter-allegations have followed since then.

In reply to Devendra Fadnavis’s allegations, Maharashtra cabinet minister Nawab Malik said he will reveal Devendra Fadnavis’ underworld connection on Wednesday. Malik also reacted to Fadnavis’s claims that he and his family members entered into land deals with people associated with the underworld.

“The allegations are baseless. I had no relations with the underworld and never purchased land from blast convicts,” Malik said as he addressed a press conference. “We were tenants of the plot, the owner wanted to sell it. We carried out the transaction with the person who had the power of attorney on behalf of the owner,” Malik added.

ST bus strike: MSRTC and ST worker’s demands are accepted by Transport Minister

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Afternoon Voice

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November 8, 2021

The suicides of ST workers for various demands are a matter of concern. ST employees have a total of three demands. According to the new wage agreement, inflation allowance, housing allowance should be increased (inflation allowance, housing allowance should be increased) were his two main demands. However, the issue of the merger of the MSRTC with the state government remained unresolved.

Transport Minister Anil Parab said that the issue of increment in the wage agreement would be discussed after Diwali. After discussions with the transport minister, the ST workers announced that they were withdrawing the agitation.

Due to the indefinite agitation by 150 ST depots in the state, common people had to suffer a lot. Transport Minister Anil Parab discussed the issue with the ST staff union. After the major demands of the ST employees were accepted in this meeting. Transport Minister Anil Parab and the ST workers’ union agreed to some of the demands. The dearness allowance of ST employees has been increased from 12 to 28 per cent. The housing allowance will also be increased. Following the government’s decision, the ST Corporation will be burdened with Rs 30 crore per month, including Rs 28 crore dearness allowance and Rs 2 crore rent.

Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Maharashtra government to form a three-member committee to address the matter.

A vacation bench of Justice SJ Kathawalla and Justice SP Tavade said in its order: “The Chief Minister, State of Maharashtra, will consider the recommendations and submit the same to the court with his views/opinion on the said recommendations.”

“The MSRTC’s managing director shall act as a coordinator and assist the committee, but he shall have no powers in the decision-making. The committee shall hear representatives of the 28 unions and representatives of the MSRTC and thereafter, submit their decision/recommendations to the chief minister,” added the court.

On the other hand, Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) demands a DA merger with salary, officials said. A spokesperson of the MSRTC told Afternoon Voice “The MSRTC is one of the biggest public transport corporations in the county with a fleet of more than 16,000 buses and around 93,000 employees, including drivers and conductors. Before the pandemic, around 65 lakh passengers used to travel in the MSRTC buses every day.”

Earlier this week, state Transport Minister Anil Parab, who is also chairman of the MSRTC, had declared a hike in the DA of the corporation’s employees to 17 per cent from the existing 12 per cent, besides payment of October salary before the Diwali festival on November 1, instead of the scheduled 7th day of each month. Parab had also announced, “Diwali Bhet” (bonus) of Rs 2,500 and Rs 5,000 for the MSRTC employees and officers, respectively. The MSRTC is going through tremendous financial stress as its operations have been affected since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reeling under losses and rising diesel prices, the MSRTC hiked fares across all its services, except night express buses, with ticket prices going up by a minimum of Rs 5 and travel in AC ‘Shivneri’ buses between Mumbai’s Dadar and Swargate in Pune now costing Rs 525 instead of Rs 450.

Telore was driving a bus from Pathardi to Nashik, but took a halt for a night at the Sangamner depot, about 250 km from Mumbai, he said. The exact trigger behind the drastic step is not known immediately but the preliminary information suggested that Telore ended his life due to some personal reasons, he said.

Lakhimpur Kheri tragedy: SC proposes to appoint former HC judge to monitor ongoing probe

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Afternoon Voice

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November 8, 2021

The Supreme Court on Monday proposed to appoint a former High Court judge to monitor the ongoing investigation into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case where eight persons, including four farmers, were killed during a farmers’ protest. A Bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli expressed dissatisfaction with the Uttar Pradesh Police probe and mixing of witnesses in different FIRs in the Lakhimpur Kheri case.

The investigation is “not going the way we expected”, the Bench said. It asked senior advocate Harish Salve appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government to take instructions from the government on the appointment of a former High Court judge from a different state to oversee the probe and posted the matter for hearing on Friday.

“…to ensure that evidence in FIR 219 (mowing down of farmers by a vehicle) is recorded independently from FIR 220 (lynching of accused) and there is no overlapping and no intermixing, we are inclined to appoint a retired judge of a different High Court to monitor the investigation. Somehow, we are not confident of the state judiciary overseeing… Let a retired judge of different High Court monitor it,” the Bench said. Salve said that he will get instructions from the state government regarding this suggestion of the apex court.

Justice Kant suggested the names of Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain or Justice Ranjit Singh, former judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to oversee the probe. It also declined to hand over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation saying “the CBI is not the solution to everything”.

During the hearing, the Bench expressed concerns that the case against the prime accused relating to mowing down the farmers being diluted by clubbing the investigation with the counter-case of mob lynching. The Bench said that the investigation in both cases must be separate and the statements of witnesses in both cases must be recorded independently.

The Apex Court observed that the pace of the investigation is not up to the expectation and said that the prima facie view it gets is that one particular accused is benefited by recording statements of witnesses in a particular manner. At the outset, the top court expressed unhappiness over the status report filed by the Uttar Pradesh government in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, observing there is nothing in the status report apart from saying that more witness has been examined.

The Bench said it had granted the Uttar Pradesh government ten days time and expressed dissatisfaction that the forensic lab reports regarding the video evidence which have not yet come and that the mobile phones of all accused have not been seized. It is not what we have expected, the Bench observed. Salve told the Bench that lab reports will be ready by November 15.

The Court told Salve that only one accused’s phone has been seized and asked have the police seized the cellphone of the other accused. “Only one accused had a mobile phone?” Justice Hima Kohli asked Salve, who in turn replied that some of the accused said that they did not have phones but the CDRs have been obtained.

The accused have thrown away the phones but from their CDRs, their locations are traced, Salve added. Uttar Pradesh government also submitted that the local journalist was crushed by the offending car in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case and not by the farmers.

The journalist was killed, he was earlier thought to be with Ashish Mishra but then it was seen he was crushed by the car along with the farmers, Salve said. Senior Advocate Arun Bharadwaj, appearing for Ruby Devi, the widow of slain BJP worker Shyam Sunder, expressed a lack of confidence in SIT probe and said he was killed in police custody and demanded a CBI investigation.

The Bench, however, said CBI can’t be a solution for everything. The apex court was hearing a case where two lawyers had written a letter to the CJI seeking a high-level judicial inquiry into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.

Earlier, the top court had slammed the UP government and said that it was getting an impression that the Uttar Pradesh Police was “dragging its feet” in its investigation. As per reports 13 people, including Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Ajay Kumar Mishra ‘Teni’, have been arrested so far in connection with the case.

The top court had said it is “not satisfied” with the action taken by the UP government in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and also questioned the State on why accused Ashish Mishra was not arrested so far. Ashish Mishra had allegedly mowed down farmers with his car.

Two advocates — Shiv Kumar Tripathi and CS Panda — had sent the letter petition before CJI seeking punishment for politicians allegedly involved in the ghastly incident. The letter had stated, “Having regard to the seriousness of the killing of the farmers at district Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, it is incumbent upon this Court to intervene in the matter as flashed in the press.”

A single-member Commission of Enquiry with headquarters at Lakhimpur Kheri has been constituted to investigate the death of 8 persons in Lakhimpur Kheri. Uttar Pradesh government had appointed retired Allahabad High Court judge Pradeep Kumar Srivastava as a single-member Commission to inquire about the incident and enquiry to be completed within a period of two months. Local farmers accused Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra ‘Teni’ and his son of the violence that left eight dead, including four farmers a local journalist and others. They were allegedly mowed down by a vehicle which was part of the convoy of the minister in Lakhimpur Kheri in north-central Uttar Pradesh.

Videos are also being circulated on social media where an SUV was seen knocking down protesters from behind. The Minister and his son deny the charges. Ashish Mishra and 20 others have been booked for murder but have not been arrested yet.

Anil Deshmukh is currently under investigation has lot to deal

By

Vaidehi Taman

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November 7, 2021

Anil Deshmukh is currently under investigation by the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate, following accusations made by the former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh. Since July 2021, Deshmukh remained untraceable and failed to appear before the enforcement directorate five times. Then strategically, he surrendered at the ED office and the very next day, Param Bir Singh filed an affidavit through his lawyer stating that he had no further proof and evidence to prove the allegations made by him against Deshmukh.

He was formally arrested after 12 hours of questioning after his arrest he was produced before the court and the court sent him to 4 days Enforcement Directorate remand and after the remand ended on Nov 6 the court sent him to judicial custody for 14 days. The next day the Bombay High Court set aside the judicial custody and remanded Deshmukh to ED custody till Nov 12.

Anil Deshmukh has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate after he was accused of corruption and bribery. It is also alleged that the leader collected 4.7 crore rupees from various bars and restaurants in Mumbai, through police officer Sachin Vaze who is now dismissed. A Mumbai court has extended the remand of Vaze with Mumbai Police till November 13 in the extortion case filed by businessman Bimal Agarwal. Vaze and Singh shared a major chunk of the extortion amount; some of the extortion money was shared amongst others which are yet to be traced by investigation authorities. The police were approached with one victim and they wanted to trace the others.

The Ex-CP Param Bir Singh had accused Anil Deshmukh of asking Vaze to collect Rs 100 crore from hotels and bars in Mumbai every month, a charge which the then state home minister had consistently denied. In a tweet, Anil Deshmukh stated that he was appearing before ED officials as per the high court’s order, and questioned why Param Bir Singh had not joined the investigation. On Sunday, the CBI made the first arrest in the high-profile case, Santosh Jagtap. The agency had raided the alleged middleman’s premises in August and seized Rs 9 lakh in cash.

The ED had arrested Deshmukh’s personal assistant Kundan Shinde and personal secretary Sanjeev Palande under provisions of the PMLA. Palande is said to be a key witness in the case and was apparently privy to information regarding the alleged extortion and diversion of funds. The agency has conducted several raids in connection with the case.

Deshmukh took charge of the Home Ministry of Maharashtra in the MVA coalition government led by Uddhav Thackeray after the 2019 Maharashtra political crisis. He proposed the establishment of a specialized treatment centre for the police personnel infected during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the home minister, he tabled the proposed Shakti Bill in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly which sought to modify provisions pertaining to sexual offences against women and children. The bill was ultimately sent for review to a committee of the Legislative Assembly after an outcry from various women’s rights groups and activists.

As a home minister, he introduced the ‘Self Balancing Electric Scooters’ (Segway) for Mumbai Police personnel that would help them while on patrolling duty. He famously attended the complaint calls at the Pune city police control room on New Year’s Eve and celebrated the same with police personnel. During his tenure, the home ministry declared Rs 5,000,000 ex gratia to the families of police personnel who lost their lives to COVID-19.

He also proffered one-rank promotion to fourteen police officers for their historic valour and courage during the 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks. It is claimed that he was the first-ever Home Minister of the state to visit the Regional Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Pune and spent time interacting with the staff and discussing ways to equip the Laboratory with the latest technology.

Rashmi Shukla, Commissioner of State Intelligence (COI) wrote a letter to the Maharashtra DGP, Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, on 25 August 21, claiming a network of brokers involved in transferring police officers in exchange for money. The housing minister Jitendra Awhad claimed that Shukla had tapped phones illegally.

Deshmukh resigned from the post of the Home Minister of Maharashtra in the MVA coalition government led by CM Uddhav Thackeray after the Bombay high court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct a preliminary inquiry into allegations of corruption and misconduct levelled by former commissioner Param Bir Singh against Deshmukh. So far nothing is proven against him, he is expected to get bail and may resume back to his portfolio soon. On the other hand, the government is on the lookout for Param Bir Singh, but rumours are that Singh has already reached safe heavens with the help of authorities and no sign of return unless this storm settles. Waze is already in trouble for Mansukh Hiren’s murder, so he’s getting out of jail is impossible. It would be very interesting to see how this entire drama unfolds further.

No relief to Anil Deshmukh, sent to ED custody till November 12

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Afternoon Voice

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November 7, 2021

A vacation bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar was hearing an application filed by the ED, challenging the special court’s order of November 6 remanding Anil Deshmukh to 14-day judicial custody on the ground that it was bad in law and against the principles of natural justice.

The HC, while remanding Deshmukh in the agency’s custody, observed that prima facie there was substance in the ED’s application about the legality of the special court’s order. The entire money trail is required to be established and the involvement of foreign angles cannot be ruled out at this stage, the agency said in its application.

Anil Deshmukh’s counsel Vikram Chaudhri and advocate Aniket Nikam told the court that while they were opposing the plea on merits and maintainability, the NCP leader had consented and volunteered to be interrogated by the ED.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the ED, told the court that based on the probe conducted so far, custodial interrogation was the need of the hour considering the allegation of collection of around Rs 100 crore has been made in the case.

The Bombay High Court on Sunday set aside a special court order remanding former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh to judicial custody and sent him in the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) custody till November 12 in a money laundering case.

The ED in its application said the special court, by remanding Deshmukh to judicial custody, had denied the agency sufficient and adequate opportunity to investigate a case that has “wide and serious ramifications”. The agency said it could interrogate Anil Deshmukh only for five days, of which two were holidays (Diwali).

The ED in its application sought Mr Deshmukh’s custody for nine days, but his counsel Chaudhri told the court that they were agreeable only for four-day custody.

The HC observed that prima facie there was substance in the ED’s application about the legality of the special court’s order. Justice Jamdar said since Mr Deshmukh’s advocates have agreed to the ED’s custody, it was not going in detail on the aspect of the legality of the special court’s order. The HC then remanded Anil Deshmukh to the ED’s custody till November 12.

The ED in its application said the special court, by remanding Deshmukh to judicial custody, had denied the agency sufficient and adequate opportunity to investigate a case that has “wide and serious ramifications” and more so, when the probe is at a crucial stage.

“The session’s judge (special court) ought to have appreciated that the investigation in cases of colossal frauds and money laundering, like the present one, cannot be expected to be completed within a short span of time,” the application said.

A sufficient opportunity needs to be given to the investigating agency to probe the entire gamut of the case so that it can collect sufficient quality evidence which will help to go to the root of the matter, it added.

The ED said it now wants to confront Deshmukh with dismissed cop Sachin Waze and others, including the NCP leader’s family members like his sons Hrishikesh Deshmukh and Salil Deshmukh and his chartered accountant.

Anil Deshmukh was arrested by the ED on November 1 after 12 hours of questioning in connection with the multi-crore money laundering case. He was produced before a special holiday court on November 2 which remanded him in the ED’s custody till November 6. When he was produced before the special court on Saturday, the ED had sought further custody, but the court refused and sent him to judicial custody. The ED had earlier told the special court that Deshmukh was the “prime beneficiary” of proceeds of crime and directly involved in the offence of money laundering.

The central agency, in its remand note submitted to the special court, had said the NCP leader emerged as an “important cog in the wheels” in the case, in which there has been an allegation of collection of Rs 100 crore, and maintained the involvement of foreign angle cannot be ruled out.

It had also told the court that Mr Deshmukh’s custodial interrogation was the need of the hour in the interest of the ongoing investigation and that the entire money trail requires to be established in order to bring the guilty to book. The ED had initiated a probe against Anil Deshmukh and his associates after the CBI filed its FIR against the NCP leader on April 21 this year on charges of corruption and misuse of official positions.

The case against Deshmukh and others was made out after the CBI booked him in a corruption case related to allegations of at least Rs 100 crore bribery made by ex-Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh. Anil Deshmukh had refuted these allegations earlier and said the agency’s whole case was based on malicious statements made by a tainted cop (Vaze). The ED had earlier arrested two persons in the case – Sanjeev Palande (additional collector rank official who was working as Deshmukh’s private secretary) and Kundan Shinde (Deshmukh’s personal assistant). The agency earlier submitted its prosecution complaint (equivalent to a charge sheet) against the duo before a special court.

81,000 people yet to take the second dose of Covaxin

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Afternoon Voice

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November 5, 2021

As per the list prepared by the BMC, a total of 3.7 lakh people is yet to take the second Covishield shot and for over 81,000 a second shot of the Covaxin is pending. BMC is creating a database of citizens who have missed out on their second dose and instructing the 24 ward war rooms to reach out to them and complete their vaccination.

Each ward assignee will make calls to an average of 15,000-second dose beneficiaries of Covishield and 3,000 of Covaxin from across the city and not just stick to those from a particular ward. Instead of sticking to its earlier plan of calling the beneficiaries who are yet to take their second shot of the COVID-19 vaccine as per their registered addresses, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has divided the work equally among the 24 administrative wards.

Each ward war room will now make calls to an average of 15,000-second dose beneficiaries of Covishield and 3,000 of Covaxin from across the city and not just stick to those from a particular ward. Civic officials said that this would ensure fair distribution of work.

Scores of citizens have missed out on their second dose either because of lapse in dates, change of address or have simply forgotten about it. The ward war rooms have been tasked to call them up and encourage them to get their required shots. They will also explain the benefits and importance of being fully vaccinated and inform the beneficiaries about the nearest available vaccination centre.

BMC officials said, “lakhs of citizens have yet to take their second dose. We are classifying them and trying to reassure them to take it. We have a list of all the vaccination centres and the ward war rooms can easily guide them with the necessary information as per their addresses.”

In the meantime, the BMC is yet to complete its target of vaccinating the city’s adult population with at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. It had earlier set a deadline of early October for the same. And to the dismay of those who were willing to get their doses during the next three days, the BMC has shut its centres and will open them again on Monday.

Chhath Puja on November 10 arrives with restricted gatherings

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Afternoon Voice

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November 5, 2021

Ahead of Chhath puja on November 10, the BMC has issued guidelines restricting gatherings near beaches, riverbanks, and ponds to perform rituals. The civic body has allowed puja around artificial ponds at the ward level and sought help from the local police to ensure social distancing. On Tuesday, ward offices were also directed to set up health camps near these ponds and conduct a Covid test for devotees visiting the puja.

Similar protocols were followed last year, too, amid the raging Covid-19 pandemic. Chhath puja is observed with fervour in Mumbai, with lakhs of devotees thronging beaches/water bodies for rituals. “There’s always the fear of the next wave during festivals. We do not want to take any chances,” said a senior BMC official, adding that like last year, requests were rejected from various organizations to allow gatherings.

“We have instead allowed puja to be performed at artificial ponds. Groups organizing functions can seek permission from local municipal ward offices,” the official said.

BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said the civic body is reporting nearly 13,000 Covid cases on an average every month. “The situation is better but the fear of outbreak is still there. In such a situation, Chhath puja has been approved but only with strict safety protocols,” he said.

Maharashtra is suffering from a catastrophe of character

By

Vaidehi Taman

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November 3, 2021

Maharashtra Politicians, administrative authorities Vs central agencies are in moral turmoil. The Mumbai cops are always loyal to the state government whoever it might be but maximum mid and lower rank officers are staunch supporters of Shiv Sena. They have a bias towards NCP and Congress. Earlier Shiv Sena and BJP were in alliance, so keeping loyalties for the state government was not complicated for any cop or higher authorities. All of sudden the new alliance brought little discomfort. Cops were loyal to Shiv Sena but most of them have reservations for Congress and NCP especially since Modi became Prime Minister of India.

Police are part of the system but not the government. At the same time, they are no aliens, as a voter of this nation they too have their political inclination. In such scenarios, Param Bir Singh, the former Police Commissioner of Mumbai was put through a lot of horrible events. This all started with Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide. The state machinery Vs central agencies and above all sold out media was let loose against Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders and top cops. There were random attacks on former CP, and the events did not stop here. Maybe Parambir Singh was pushed too much. Maybe he was on his tether. Maybe the minister placed really dangerous demands on him. Maybe he thought “enough is enough” and came open with his complaint just to save himself. Maybe this 100 crore stuff is a cover story, the real game is known only to him, Anil Deshmukh and Uddhav Thackeray.

One fine day Singh appealed to the Supreme Court of India for ordering a fair, independent and impartial probe against the Maharashtra Home Minister. He has claimed that the Minister had asked Sachin Vaze, an encounter specialist police officer, to collect money for him. In his letter he wrote that he was mulling over what the Minister said and when he was unceremoniously shunted out, he brought up the matter. He had also written that he had spoken to CM, Deputy CM and Sharad Pawar already about the matter. So, it is not sudden. Since they did nothing after an oral complaint, Param Bir did what he should have done.

This has been in the knowledge of several IPS officers who held important posts in Maharashtra; they know how political opponents are fixed and how the ruling party mobilises money using all its resources. Sometimes softly but at times when people wouldn’t get the message right, they would adopt all pressure tactics. In this case, the former Home Minister might have gone overboard since the target is very high profile and probably connected to the most powerful people. Some of the so-called top guns of yesteryears need not be welding the same wand as they were adopting all methods through unholy elements. Gone are the days, now each one has an outlet to express.

If an official toes the line of the politicians through & through, they do not necessarily flourish. When the going is not good and turns ugly, the politician leaves that pliant official to vultures and saves their own skin. You saw what happened to the members of the “Encounter Squad” of which once Sachin Waze was a member. In the difficult decade of Underworld gang wars 1993-2003, a specially created encounter squad eliminated about 600 operatives of the Dawood Ibrahim, Chota Rajan and Arun Gawli gangs. This squad comprised Sachin Waze, Pradeep Sharma, Vijay Salaskar, Arun Borude, Ravindra Angre, Prafulla Bhosle, Ravindra Angre and Daya Naik like many officers. Ignoring the extra-legal activity of this squad, Indians in general and the media, in particular, lionized them as “heroes”.

But later on, they all were termed as dirty Harries of Mumbai; they are the ones who were compared to Scotland Yard police, later on, subjected to humiliation and arrests. No politician shared the pain of this saga or came into question. If you take a close look at the politics in your own state, you will find countless such incidents.

These low-level encounter cops enjoyed disproportionate power and fame. Pradeep Sharma used to haunt his quarries with one-liners like, “Cooper ya ooper?” (Cooper is a civic hospital in Mumbai). Soon, these men operating in the shadows were co-opted into politics. Vijay Salaskar, who was killed during the 26/11 incident, was a Shiv Sainik before he joined the police force and retained informal relations with the party.

Ravindra Angre was a member of BJP; Pradeep Sharma joined BJP before contesting the 2019 election on Shiv Sena ticket. A.A Khan, who led the famous Lokhandawala shootout, contested on a Janata Dal ticket in 1998. Sachin Waze joined Shiv Sena though the party later kept him away, and is now languishing in jail. Nearly every member of this encounter brigade faced either suspension or jail term on charges varying from disproportionate assets, extortion, custodial torture and killing to rape.

I must also include; vengeance does not necessarily reach out to the accused officials. In a certain state, revenue officials that got suspended for corruption charges quietly got transferred. Some got reinstated in the same position in the same office. There are many reasons for this. One readily acceptable reason, it is not always easy to make the case glued. To some extent, Param Bir Singh’s saga is also driven by political motives and harboured for some agenda. When things went haywire, she was escorted to a safe haven. Once the dust settles, he will make his comeback.

Who escorted Param Bir Singh to escape? Singh’s lawyer confirmed that he had submitted the affidavit in a previous hearing of the commission

By

Afternoon Voice

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November 3, 2021

Despite the commission issuing multiple summonses and a bailable warrant against Singh, he has not appeared before it so far. The untraceable Param Bir Singh has become a topic of blame game between the ruling party and the opposition. He has been named in multiple FIRs in connection to extortion cases – including by two bookies who accused Singh of extortion and falsely implicating them in cricket betting cases. Singh has already been accused by Police Inspector Bhimrao Ghadge of stopping the probe on collusion between builders and officials of the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) to dupe the State government of Rs 124 crore.

Days after he was shunted out as Mumbai police commissioner and transferred to the Home Guards in March this year, Singh had claimed in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that Deshmukh used to ask police officers to collect money from restaurant and bar owners in Mumbai. Deshmukh resigned from the post of state home minister in April this year. The NCP leader has repeatedly denied the allegations against him. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are probing the allegations made against Deshmukh by Singh.

Param Bir Singh has submitted an affidavit before an inquiry commission probing his corruption allegations against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, saying he does not have any further evidence to share in the matter. Singh’s lawyer on Wednesday confirmed that the senior IPS officer submitted the affidavit in a previous hearing of the commission. In March this year, the Maharashtra government formed the one-member commission of retired Justice Kailash Uttamchand Chandiwal to probe Singh’s allegations against Deshmukh.

Singh has submitted in the petition that Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had been holding meetings in February 2021 at his residence with police officers including Sachin Vaze of Crime Intelligence Unit, Mumbai and Shri Sanjay Patil, ACP Social Service Branch, Mumbai, bypassing their seniors and had instructed them that he had a target to accumulate Rs. 100 crores every month and had directed to collect money from various establishments and other sources.

Anil Deshmukh is already arrested and the probe is taking place in the entire allegation made by Param Bir Singh, in the meantime, Singh has gone untraceable. The question is that how come an officer leaves India without the support of authorities?

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut claimed that IPS officer Param Bir Singh had not fled, but with the Centre’s help he was made to move to a safe haven, that is a foreign land.” The BJP has hit back, with party leader Ashish Shelar alleging that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) may have helped Singh run away and could be “preparing the ground for him to seek political asylum” in a western country.

Raut in reply said, “When a person serving on a post equivalent to the director-general of police moves out of the country, he cannot do so without the support of the Union government. He has not absconded, but made to move out of the country.” Terming the arrest of former home minister Anil Deshmukh unethical, he said, “The central agencies have arrested Deshmukh based on Singh’s allegations. It is very unfortunate as his arrest is unethical.” Raut said that an investigation can be carried out on the basis of allegations, but Deshmukh was arrested on the first day of the ED inquiry.

Shelar, however, claimed that the Sena-led MVA had a motive in helping Singh flee. “The MVA government must have helped Singh to go missing, because if he gets caught, he may reveal some work done for leaders of the ruling parties,” he alleged. “Considering the number of cases filed against Singh, it seems to be a strategy for preparing the ground for the IPS officer to seek Political refuge in a particular western country. If you speak against the government, you are eligible for such safe haven.”

Who’s who of Sharad Pawar supporters

By

Vaidehi Taman

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November 1, 2021

In 1995, BJP leader late Gopinath Munde-then the opposition leader had come up with 113 calls made between April 27 and June 19, 1992, from the offices of 12 members of the Sudhakarrao Naik ministry. The records revealed that some of the Dubai numbers were repeatedly dialled; forty of the numbers were common to all ministers; and that all the calls were made between 11 am and 6 pm. Though Naik’s men revealed that in 1992, two ministers close to Pawar had frequently phoned Dubai.

Munde had made full use of it in his campaign against the criminalisation of politics. Sharad Pawar was the CM when Dawood escaped and Mr Pawar helped him as per the records by an intelligence officer’s statement. He had promised to unmask Sharad Pawar from whose offices “suspicious” telephone calls had allegedly been made to Dubai, the place synonymous with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

After the Shiv Sena – BJP came to power, Munde promised to trace the controversial calls, list them and name those involved. Sixteen calls to Dubai and one to Nepal have been reportedly traced to the offices of Padamsinh Patil – a relative of Pawar-who then held the irrigation portfolio. Former transport minister Shankarrao Kolhe heads the list with 24 calls to Dubai, followed by Madan Bafna with 18. The others named are Pushpatai Hiray (13), Shivajirao Shengde (6), Bapusaheb Thite (6), Ramesh Dube (4), Jaidutt Kshirsagar (4) and Rajinder Gode (l).

In 1993, Sharad Pawar had lied quite blatantly. When the serial blasts went off in Bombay that year, he told reporters there had been 13 blasts, instead of the 12 they had located. It was almost a decade later after he ceased to be a chief minister when he admitted in an interview to the Hindustan Times, that he had lied to prevent a conflagration. He did not choose Masjid Bunder without reason and he dropped ample hints before the police cracked the case a few weeks later that ‘it looks like the handiwork of some Sri Lankan terrorists’.

Ex RAW officer NK Sood in an interview to Defensive Offence made stunning revelations about the unholy nexus of Congress and NCP leaders including Sharad Pawar Dawood Ibrahim and their complicity in shielding the D-Company supremo from arrests and sabotaging the Indian intelligence’s efforts in nabbing the Mumbai 1993 bomb blast accused.

In a blistering attack against the NCP leader Sharad Pawar, Sood asserted that there was an illicit link between the NCP chief and Dawood Ibrahim, claiming that Pawar, who was the chief minister of the state at that time allowed Dawood Ibrahim and the other accused of the bomb blasts to flee the country. He also said that the police and the law enforcement agencies didn’t come down hard against the Dawood Ibrahim gang in the aftermath of the blasts, hinting at a possible symbiotic relationship between the two entities.

Sood further emphasized that Sharad Pawar’s remarks regarding Pakistan that it is a hospitable country and Indian politicians are exaggerating about the situation there lays bare his ingrained love for the neighbouring country. Sood contended that the real reason behind Sharad Pawar’s affection with the terrorist nation Pakistan is because they are hosting Dawood Ibrahim.

It was Sharad Pawar as the defence minister in central Govt who arranged for the exit of Dawood during the riots since Dawood was the business partner. Also, when our RAW had arranged to kill Dawood in Dubai, it was the same Pawar who stopped that and informed D. This is as per the statement of Retd. officer of IB. It is on record.

Ibrahim is not just a fugitive for India, but also has been designated as a terrorist by the United States of America. The US has alleged that he shared smuggling routes with the terror outfit Al Qaeda. According to the US authorities, he is involved in large-scale shipping of narcotics in the United Kingdom and other European countries. It is alleged that he was in touch with the Al-Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden. Reports suggest that he travelled to Afghanistan in the 1990s under the Taliban’s protection. The United Nations has also imposed sanctions on him. Under the recently amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, he has been officially declared a terrorist by India too.