NEW DELHI: Old Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, who was transferred amid a dispute over an explosives-laden van found nearby Mukesh Ambaniresidence, wrote to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray alleging serious “malpractice” on the part of Maharashtra’s Interior Minister Anil Deshmukh.
Here are the key allegations made by the former Mumbai police commissioner in the letter:
-In one of the briefings following the Antilia incident held in mid-March 2021 when I was called late at night in Varsha to inform you, I had pointed out various misdeeds and bad practices that the Minister of the Interior was committing. Similarly, I have informed the Honorable Senior Deputy Minister, Maharsahtra, the Chairman of the Nationalist Congress Party, Shri Sharad Pawar, and other high-ranking ministers also about the misdeeds and bad practices. In my briefings, I noticed that some of the ministers were already aware of some aspects that I mentioned to them.
-Sachin Vaze, who headed the Criminal Intelligence Unit of the Mumbai Police Criminal Section, was called by Shri Anil Deshmukh, Honorable Minister of the Interior of Maharashtra, to his official Dyaneshwar residence several times in recent months and repeatedly instructed to assist in the collection. of funds for the Honorable Minister of the Interior.
-The honorable Interior Minister expressed to Sachin Vaze that he was aiming to accumulate Rs. 100 million rupees per month. To achieve the aforementioned goal, the Honorable Home Secretary told Shri Vaze that there are around 1,750 bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai and if a sum of Rs. 2-3 lakhs each were collected from each of the 3, a monthly collection of Rs. You could get between 40 and 50 million rupees. The Honorable Minister of the Interior added that the rest of the collection could be obtained from other sources.
-Shri Vaze came to my office the same day and informed me of the above. I was surprised by the discussion above and was reflecting on how to deal with the situation.
-The Honorable Minister of the Interior has been repeatedly calling my officers and giving them instructions on the course they should follow in the performance of their official duties. The Honorable Home Secretary has been calling my officers at their official residence bypassing me and other senior Police Department officers to whom these respective Police Officers report. The Honorable Home Minster has been instructing them to carry out official assignments and collection schemes, including financial transactions as instructed, according to their expectations and goals for collecting money. My officers have informed me of these corrupt malpractices.
-In a collective assessment of the events that have occurred and what I am pointing out makes it clear that they have made me a scapegoat to divert attention from the real criminals.
-It has been my experience over the last over a year as Police Commissioner, Mumbai that the Honorable Minister of the Interior has on numerous occasions called various Mumbai Police officers to their official residence in Dyaneshwar to give instructions for taking a course of action in police investigations. These acts of political interference are illegal and unconstitutional.
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