Chandiwal Commission: Vaze a 'high performing and obedient officer', says ACP Sanjay Patil in letter to CM

Chandiwal Commission: Vaze a 'high performing and obedient officer', says ACP Sanjay Patil in letter to CM

Patil said that there existed a WhatsApp group of officers of the city police's crime branch of which all officers above the rank of a unit in charge were members.

Staff ReporterUpdated: Wednesday, January 05, 2022, 09:52 PM IST
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Suspended API Sachin Vaze | Photo: Twitter Image

Assistant Commissioner of Police Sanjay Patil who was named by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh in his letter to the Maharashtra Chief Minister as one of the officers asked by Anil Deshmukh to extort money from bars and pubs, told the Chandiwal inquiry commission Wednesday that former Mumbai police officer Sachin Vaze was a “high performing and an obedient officer”.

Patil also denied any knowledge of a meeting called by Vaze or any of his other subordinate police officers to discuss the alleged extortion demand made by the then state home minister Anil Deshmukh.

He made the above statement during his cross-examination by Vaze before the state-appointed inquiry commission headed by retired judge KU Chandiwal.

Patil said that there existed a WhatsApp group of officers of the city police's crime branch of which all officers above the rank of a unit in charge were members.

In that group, all "good work" of officers, including raids on hookah parlours, pubs etc., were discussed, and efforts of the officers were appreciated, Patil said.

In case of a poor show or misconduct, adverse remarks were also made on the group by superior officials, he said.

"Between October 2020 and March 2021, I had noticed good work of officers of the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU), including that of CIU officer Sachin Vaze. Comments of appreciation were also for Sachin Vaze (on the WhatsApp group)," Patil said.

"I did not notice any adverse remarks to (made in respect of) Sachin Vaze. It can be said that VWaze is a high performing and obedient officer as recorded in the WhatsApp group," Patil said.

On Tuesday, during his cross-examination by Deshmukh's counsel advocate Girish Kulkarni, and by advocate Shekhar Jagtap, the counsel for Deshmukh's then personal secretary Sanjeev Palande, Patil had said that he had not received any phone calls, or instructions from Deshmukh on "collection of hafta" or, extortion of money from bars or any other establishments in the city.

In his eight-page letter written to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray in March 2021, Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had asked DCP Raju Bhujbal, ACP Sanjay Patil and former API Sachin Vaze to collect Rs 100 crore each month from businesses such as pubs and hookah parlours in Mumbai.

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