MUMBAI, Aug 3: Maharashtra politics hotted up on Saturday with sacked police officer Sachin Waze reiterating allegations of bribery against former home minister and NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh, prompting the opposition to question the “timing” and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis assuring an inquiry.
Deshmukh and Fadnavis are locked in a war of words since the former accused the BJP politician of trying to exert pressure as the then opposition leader when he (Deshmukh) was home minister in the erstwhile MVA government, to frame key politicians including the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Reacting to Waze’s claims, Fadnavis, who heads the Home department, assured to conduct a proper inquiry into Waze’s latest allegations.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also said the Home department will probe the matter and rejected any political vendetta.
“No action will be taken with an intention to exact a political revenge,” he added.
The timing of Waze’s claims intrigued the Opposition given Deshmukh’s recent ‘disclosures’ against Fadnavis when he was the opposition leader.
Fadnavis had denied allegations against him.
Deshmukh resigned as home minister in 2021 after former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh accused him of setting a target to collect Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants in the city.
Waze, accused of planting gelatin sticks outside Mukesh Ambani’s residence ‘Antilia’ and also booked for the related murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran, had earlier told an inquiry commission that he had paid money to Deshmukh’s associates on the latter’s instructions.
Waze is currently lodged in Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai.
As media reports showed Waze reiterating his allegations on Saturday, Deshmukh termed them as a “new move” by Fadnavis to use a person with a criminal background to implicate him.
“What Sachin Waze spoke is a new move by Devendra Fadnavis rattled by my allegations about how he had given a proposal to me three years ago to implicate Uddhav Thackeray and Aditya Thackeray,” he told reporters in Nagpur.
Fadnavis may not know that the Bombay High Court spoke about Sachin Waze’s criminal background. He was arrested in two murder cases and is not a person who can be trusted, said Deshmukh, who belongs to the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party.
Fadnavis said he learnt about Waze’s claims through the media.
“Media reported that Sachin Waze had sent me a letter. I have not yet seen the letter as I have been in Nagpur for the last two days. I will find out if such a letter is received and respond. We would certainly conduct a proper inquiry into emerging (disclosures),” he told reporters.
The Congress and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) refuted Waze’s allegations and questioned how he was allowed to speak to the media while being escorted by police.
NCP (SP) spokesperson Mahesh Tapase claimed Waze had earlier told the Chandiwal Commission that Deshmukh or his personal assistants never demanded any money nor had they instructed him to collect money from Mumbai’s restaurants and bars.
The commission, under retired Justice KU Chandiwal, was set up in 2021, when the Maha Vikas Aghadi was in power to look into allegations against Deshmukh. It had submitted a 201-page report to the government in April 2022.
Tapase also said Waze was a “disgraced” person, adding that his statement was “clearly politically motivated” and was intended to serve certain political interests.
Tapase claimed then police commissioner Param Bir Singh, who also levelled allegations against Deshmukh, was reluctant to depose before the Chandiwal Commission.
“He (Singh) later submitted a letter to the commission claiming his allegation was based on information which he had heard and he didn’t have any concrete proof to substantiate the same,” Tapase said.
Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe asked how a jailed person was allowed to speak to the media while being escorted by police personnel, adding that officials responsible for facilitating this interaction must be immediately suspended.
“It is clear who is making him (Waze) say all this. An investigation should be conducted into how Sachin Waze was allowed to speak to the media, as prisoners in custody are not permitted to communicate with the media. The police officers in whose custody Sachin Waze was should be immediately suspended,” Londhe demanded.
Waze was a “front” to hide the conspiracy to level false charges against Deshmukh, Londhe added.
The revival of graft allegations against Deshmukh can increase the intense tussle for power between the ruling Mahayuti alliance and opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi ahead of assembly elections due in October.
Smarting under the defeat in recent Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra where it ceded significant ground to resurgent MVA, the Mahayuti alliance in general and the BJP in particular is looking to retain power in the key state. (PTI)
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