Illegal phone tapping case: Pune cops record statement of Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole

A Pune police team on Saturday recorded the statement of Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole in a phone tapping case, a senior official said on Saturday.

A case pertaining to alleged illegal tapping of phones, including that of Patole, was registered in Bund Garden police station here in February.

Speaking to reporters later, the Congress leader said the mastermind of the illegal phone tapping episode must be unmasked.

"The team went to Mumbai to take the statement of Nana Patole in the phone tapping case," confirmed Deputy Commissioner of Police Shrinivas Ghadge.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai after recording his statement, Patole said phones were tapped illegally as part of political vendetta and the "real mastermind in the case must be exposed".

"Today, I recorded my statement with Pune police who made me hear a phone recording. The voice was mine. The recording contained my views on farmers' protest and opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's anti-farmer policies," he said.

The Congress leader said, as per the police's charge sheet, his phone was tapped on the pretext that it belonged to one Amjad Khan allegedly dealing in drugs.

He reiterated that this was the only phone number he had.

The case, under the Indian Telegraph Act, has been registered based on an inquiry report that phones were illegally tapped allegedly when IPS officer Rashmi Shukla was police commissioner of Pune.

Published on: Saturday, May 07, 2022, 07:26 PM IST