After his party chief Sharad Pawar’s alibi yesterday raised questions, Maharashtra House Minister Anil Deshmukh tweeted a video defending himself against accusations that he discussed a 100-crore extortion racket with a notorious police officer at his home last month.
Anil Deshmukh is facing calls to resign after sacked Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh claimed in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that the minister had enlisted several police officers into the job of accumulating 100 crores a month, including Sachin Waze, the officer arrested in the Mukesh Ambani bomb scare case. Mr. Deshmukh was accused of meeting Sachin Waze at his house in February, according to the letter.
Sharad Pawar, the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), said on Monday that the charges date from when Mr Deshmukh was in the hospital, ruling out his resignation. Mr Deshmukh was in the hospital from February 5 to 15 and in house isolation from February 15 to 27 in Nagpur, according to Mr Pawar. “All of these documents will be shared with Maharashtra’s Chief Minister. The subject of resignation does not come up at this time “Mr Pawar added.
Soon after, an airline ticket in Mr Deshmukh’s name for a private flight from Nagpur to Mumbai on February 15 began circulating, seemingly confirming that he was in Mumbai at the time of the incident.
Last night, Mr Deshmukh released a video describing his actions and claiming that fake news was being spread against him.
“You all know that during the pandemic last year, I traveled the entire state and met with police officers to try to increase their morale. I tested positive for corona on February 5th. From February 5 to 15, I was in the hospital. Doctors recommended a 10-day house quarantine for me after my discharge on February 15. As a result, I flew to Mumbai on a private plane. After that, on the advice of the doctor, I used to go to the park every night for pranayam,” Mr Deshmukh said in Marathi.
He said he used videoconferencing to attend meetings and events while in hospital in Nagpur and later during his house quarantine.
The Maharashtra assembly Budget session was about to begin, so some officials used to come to my house to brief me on the questions and notices. “On February 28, I left home for the first time,” he said.
Following Mr Pawar’s remarks, the BJP, Maharashtra’s opposition party, seized on the mismatch of dates and created photographs of what it claimed was a press conference addressed by Mr Deshmukh on February 15.
“Sharad Pawar claims Anil Deshmukh was in the hospital from 5-15 February and in quarantine from 16-27 February,” BJP’s Amit Malviya tweeted. However, on February 15, Anil Deshmukh held a press conference… “How lying after lie falls flat!”
“It appears that Sharad Pawar-Ji has not been adequately briefed on the Param Bir Singh letter. The SMS proof only indicates that the meeting date was referred to as the end of February in this letter. Who is now deflecting the issue?” Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP’s former Chief Minister, said.
Sachin Waze is being questioned for his role in the case involving an SUV with explosives discovered near the Mumbai home of Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani, India’s wealthiest man, on February 25. His alleged meeting with the state Home Minister is the most explosive accusation in the former top cop’s letter.
Following the charges against the policeman, the National Investigation Agency took over the investigation from the Mumbai police alleges that Sachin Vaze was closely associated with Mansukh Hiran and may have had a hand in planting the car with explosives.
