Sharad Pawar had produced medical records to show that Maharashtra’s home minister Anil Deshmukh was in quarantine due to Covid-19 and hence the question of the latter resigning didn’t arise over the VazeGate controversy.
However, Devendra Fadnavis, former chief minister of Maharashtra, today produced records to show that Deshmukh was not in isolation from February 15-27. “Many officers had met him during that time and information on these meetings can be easily accessed,” claimed Fadnavis.
Fadnavis went on to produce police manifests related to Anil Deshmukh’s security and movements which indicated that he had planned to leave his home on at least two days.
The former CM said as per police records of the VIP movement, Anil Deshmukh went to Sahyadri Guest House on February 17 and Mantralaya on February 24. Further, he met officers so wasn’t in isolation as per se.
“I feel Pawar wasn’t briefed proper yesterday and hence he is not speaking the truth,” said Fadnavis.
On Tuesday, Anil Deshmukh has once again sought to dismiss the allegations and appealed to the media to stop spreading “misinformation” about him.
In a video message, an embattled Deshmukh issued another clarification on his activities during the month of February – the time period when he has been accused of meeting suspended cop Sachin Vaze and asking him to extort “Rs 100 crores from pubs and bars” in Mumbai.
The Home Minister further confirmed that he returned to Mumbai by personal aircraft on February 15th and remained home quarantined for the next couple of days, on the advice of the doctor. Defending himself against Param Bir’s allegations that he met Sachin Vaze at his Mumbai home in February end, Deshmukh said, “During the budget session, I conducted meetings with officers at my official residence, to brief them over the questions asked during the session.”
In his 8-page letter to CM Thackeray, Param Bir Singh has refuted Deshmukh’s statements that his transfer was due to ‘serious lapses in the investigation’, the ‘serious lapses are not pardonable’, and that his transfer was ‘not on administrative grounds’. Further in his letter, the ex-Mumbai CP has alleged that Sachin Vaze before his arrest was summoned by Maharashtra Home Minister at his residence several times in connection to the target of accumulating Rs 100 crore in a month, half from 1,750 bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai, and remaining from other sources.
Param Bir Singh has also moved the Supreme Court seeking a CBI inquiry into Anil Deshmukh’s alleged ‘misdeeds’. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi is likely to seek an urgent hearing in the case.
