Former Mumbai Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh, in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday, accused Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of indulging in “malpractices” and asking inspector Sachin Waze to collect ₹100 crore a month.
“The Hon’ble Home Minister expressed to Waze that he had a target to accumulate ₹100 crore a month. For achieving the aforesaid target, the Home Minister told Waze that there are about 1,750 bars, restaurants, and other establishments in Mumbai and if a sum of ₹2-3 lakh each was collected from each of them, a monthly collection of ₹40-50 crore was achievable. The Home Minister added that the rest of the collection could be made from other sources,” the letter read.
In the letter, the former Mumbai Police Commissioner also wrote that he had apprised CM Thackeray about the happenings during a meeting with him at Varsha, the official residence of Thackeray.
“At one of the briefing sessions in the wake of the Antilia incident held in mid-March 2021 when I was called late evening at Varsha to brief you, I had pointed out several misdeeds and malpractices being indulged into by the Hon’ble Home Minister. I have similarly briefed the Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister, Maharashtra, the President of the Nationalist Congress Party, Shri Sharad Pawar, and other senior Ministers also about the misdeeds and malpractices,” Singh said.
Elaborating on the allegations, Singh added, “Sachin Waze, who was heading the Crime Intelligence Unit of the Crime Branch of Mumbai Police, was called by Anil Deshmukh to his official residence Dyaneshwar several times in the last few months and was repeatedly instructed to assist in the collection of funds.”
Deshmukh, however, denied the allegations saying the former Commissioner of Police is trying to “save himself as the involvement of Sachin Waze in Mukesh Ambani and Mansukh Hiren’s case is becoming clearer from the investigation carried out so far and threads are leading to Singh as well”.
Reacting to the development, former chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis demanded Deshmukh’s resignation. “If he does not resign, the Chief Minister must remove him. An impartial probe must be conducted. The letter also states that CM Uddhav Thackeray was intimated about this earlier. If so, why didn’t he act on it?” the Leader of Opposition asked.
Waze was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on March 13 over his alleged involvement in the February 25 bomb scare outside Antilia, the south Mumbai residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani.
Surjitt Sahani
