Former Pune Police Chief Meeran Chadha Borwankar has made startling revelations in her book, 'Madam Commissioner,' detailing a contentious incident from 2010. In the book, she claimed that a "district minister" at the time insisted that she complete the process of handing over an auctioned plot belonging to her department to the winning bidder. The plot in question was a 3-acre piece of police land in Pune's Yerawada area.
While the district minister's name is not explicitly mentioned in the book, Meeran Borwankar, a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, seemingly alludes to NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) leader Ajit Pawar, who currently serves as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. At the time, Ajit Pawar held the position of 'guardian minister' of Pune district during the Congress-NCP government's tenure in the state.
Borwankar served as the Pune Police Commissioner between 2010 and 2012, later assuming the role of Additional Director General (Prisons) in Pune. She recounted how the district minister was adamant about her handing over the police land to the "top bidder" who, in exchange, would construct five hundred residential quarters for policemen at the existing police headquarters.
Auction process was supervised by the divisional commissioner
In the book, Borwankar explained that the auction process was supervised by the divisional commissioner, which surprised her since the land belonged to the police department. She met the district minister in the divisional commissioner's office, where he insisted she complete the process despite her concerns about the land's importance for future police offices and residential quarters.
Borwankar pointed out that she had just taken over as police commissioner, and giving away prime police land to a private party would raise concerns about her integrity. However, the district minister overruled her and declared the process complete.
Unhappy with the instructions, Borwankar asked why her predecessor, the previous police commissioner, had not handed over the land if the auction had indeed concluded. She also noted that the process appeared flawed and not in the police department's interest. The district minister reacted angrily, even hurling a map at a glass table.
According to the book, the district minister made several negative remarks about Borwankar to the then state home minister, R R Patil. When it became apparent that she would not yield the land, the highest bidder filed a case in the Bombay High Court. Notably, the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) later cited this bidder as an accused in the 2G scam.
Borwankar wrote a "very strong" letter to the home department, seeking to nullify the entire deal. However, she claimed that R R Patil, who had previously supported her transparent policies, seemed to have his hands tied due to the influence of the powerful 'district minister.'
The divisional commissioner at the time, Dilip Bund, clarified that Ajit Pawar was not directly involved in the issue and that the proposal had originated from the home department. Nonetheless, he acknowledged that Ajit Pawar had summoned Borwankar over the matter, and he tried to explain that handing over the land would benefit the police department by providing staff quarters.
Who is Meeran Borwankar?
Borwankar served as an officer of the Indian Police Service (IPS) in the Maharashtra cadre of the prestigious IPS from 1981 till 2017. She completed her Doctorate on Organisational Management, and Bachelor of Law (LLB) from the University of Pune. She is a postgraduate in English Literature from GND University, Punjab.
She is a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow with the University of Minnesota, USA, and completed the Executive Development Program from the University of New England, Australia. She has several dozen publications in the form of articles in national and international journals, research reports on investigation, gender, law enforcement, e-governance, human rights and community participation.
