BJP leader Ram Kadam seeks ED probe into allegations of corruption against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh

BJP leader Ram Kadam seeks ED probe into allegations of corruption against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh

This comes days after former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh claimed that Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh wanted police officers to collect at least Rs 100 crore from city bars and hotels every month, a charge which Deshmukh denied.

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Monday, March 22, 2021, 11:42 AM IST
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BJP leader Ram Kadam seeks ED probe into allegations of corruption against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh | ANI File Photo

BJP leader Ram Kadam has demanded an ED probe into allegations of corruption against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

This comes days after former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh claimed that Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh wanted police officers to collect at least Rs 100 crore from city bars and hotels every month, a charge which Deshmukh denied.

The senior IPS officer, who was transferred to the low-key Home Guards on March 17 following the arrest of police officer Sachin Vaze in the case related to the bomb scare near Mukesh Ambani's house Antilia, said he was made a scapegoat.

Responding to the letter, Deshmukh, NCP leader from the Vidarbha region, said Singh was hurling false accusations "to save his skin" in the Vaze case, adding he will file a defamation case against the former Mumbai police chief.

In the eight-page letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Singh alleged that Deshmukh used to call police officers to his official residence and give them a "collection target" from bars, restaurants and other establishments.

The Chief Minister's Office, in a late-night release, said Singh's "unsigned letter to Thackeray" was not sent from his official email ID and efforts were on to contact him to verify it.

In the letter, Singh claimed that Vaze, who headed Mumbai police Crime Intelligence Unit, was called by Deshmukh many times in the last few months and repeatedly instructed to assist in the collection of the funds.

The IPS officer claimed that the minister told Waze that he had set a target of collecting Rs 100 crore a month, half of it from nearly 1,750 bars, restaurants and similar establishments operating in the city.

Singh also claimed that Deshmukh "from day one" wanted a case of abutment of suicide to be registered in Mumbai after the death of Dadra and Nagar Haveli MP Mohan Delkar in a Mumbai hotel last month.

"A collective appraisal of events that have transpired and what is being pointed out by me makes it clear that I have been made a scapegoat to divert attention from the actual wrongdoers," Singh's eight-page letter said.

The minister rejected Singh's allegations, claiming that the former Mumbai police chief was trying to save himself from further action with false claims.

Even though the Maha Vikas Aghadi partners have ruled out any threat to its survival following the explosive letter by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, who alleged Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption, Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress will meet today to discuss Deshmukh’s fate.

(With inputs from ANI)

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