Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut Wednesday dismissed any pressure behind the transfer of Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh and dared BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis to name arrested policeman Sachin Vaze's "political bosses" if he had any evidence.
Raut said Fadnavis, who is a former chief minister of Maharashtra, should not resort to anything that demoralises Mumbai police.
"If the opposition thinks the transfers have been done under any pressure, then it is false. The Uddhav Thackeray government has not done the transfer under anyone's pressure. This is our moral responsibility that till the time the probe is on these transfers should take place," Raut told reporters here.
Earlier, Fadnavis said Singh and Vaze are "small people", and the matter can't be solved by blaming them alone.
"Who are behind this? That should be probed. Political bosses who operated Vaze will have to be found out," he told a press conference here, suspecting that Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran was murdered and alleging that Vaze had close and deep links with many leaders of Shiv Sena, a party the suspended cop had joined once.
To this Raut said, "Name those people if you have the evidence." Taking a dig at Fadnavis, Raut said the BJP leader could keep raising issues for the remaining next three-and-half years as the Mahavikas Aghadi government will complete its term.
Under fire over the handling of the bomb scare outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani's house in Mumbai, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday transferred Singh to the low-key Home Guard.
Singh's transfer came even as the case of recovery of gelatin sticks near Ambani's residence turned murkier with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) claiming there were "other players" who had been allegedly instructing Vaze. Fadnavis, the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, has been attacking the Thackeray government over the Vaze issue. Earlier this month, the opposition cornered the government over Waze following which he was transferred from the Crime Intelligence Unit.
Vaze, 49, credited with eliminating 63 alleged criminals in 'encounters', is also facing heat in the murder case of Hiran, who was in possession of the Scorpio. Hiran was found dead in a creek in the Thane district on March 5.
Vaze, a 1990-batch officer, was earlier suspended in 2004 over his role in the custodial death of a 2002 Ghatkopar blast suspect Khwaja Yunus. Later, he joined the Shiv Sena.
However, he was reinstated last year.
