The Maha Vikas Aghadi government of Maharashtra got in turbulence since Param Bir Singh, accused state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption and interference in police work. The unpredictable indictment prompted calls by the opposition for the resignation of Deshmukh who denied the charges and said he will take legal action against Singh for defamation.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh told Afternoon Voice, “Time will enlighten who is telling lies; I am taking legal opinion to counter this ongoing controversy. Singh who was transferred due to his inefficiency to handle law and order fears for his fate in the ongoing investigation in the Sachin Vaze case.”
Param Bir Singh in his letter said, “In and around mid-February and thereafter, the Home Minister had called Vaze to his official residence. At that time, one or two staff members of the Home Minister including his Personal Secretary, Palande, were also present.”
In his letter, Param Bir Singh further stated that Sachin Vaze, who was heading the Crime Intelligence Unit of the Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police was called by Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh to his official residence Dyaneshwar several times in the last few months and repeatedly instructed to assist in the collection of funds for him.
For achieving the target, Deshmukh told Vaze that there are about 1,750 bars, restaurants, and other establishments in Mumbai and if a sum of Rs 2-3 lakhs each was collected from each of them, a monthly collection of Rs 40-50 crores was achievable.”
Deshmukh denied the charges and said that the allegations against him are “totally bogus and baseless”
Singh had told Thackeray in the ‘letter’ that Deshmukh had asked suspended cop Sachin Vaze, embroiled in the Antilia bomb scare case, to ‘collect’ Rs. 100 crore every month for him from bars, restaurants, and other establishments.
“The letter from Param Bir Singh was received at 4:37 pm today via a different email address, not his official one, and was without his signature. The new email address needs to be checked. The Home Ministry is trying to contact him for the same,” the Maharashtra CMO informed. “An unsigned letter in the name of Param Bir Singh, commandant general of Home Guards” was received on the official email ID of the chief minister’s secretariat in the afternoon, the Chief Minister’s Office said. The email ID from where the letter was sent was being verified and the state home department was trying to contact Singh, the statement said.
Reacting to Singh’s letter, opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis said, “These allegations are more explosive than those gelatin sticks. Chats were attached with that letter. It’s important evidence. The HM should resign now. If he does not, then Uddhav should. A court-monitored inquiry should happen. But, before that Deshmukh should resign. Why didn’t Uddhav act on time when, as per the letter, Param Bir told him earlier about all these things?”
While speaking over the allegations against Maharashtra home minister, Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar said on Sunday that the allegation leveled against Deshmukh is “serious”.
He also said Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray will take appropriate action into the allegations, and asked the administration to conduct an in-depth inquiry in connection with the case.
