'Congress must take a stand': Sanjay Nirupam on ex-Mumbai top cop's explosive letter

A rift has surfaced amongst the allies over the explosive letter against Deshmukh by the former Mumbai police chief.

In a tweet, Nirupam wrote: "If at all, whatever Parambir Singh is saying is truth, question should be asked from Hon Sharad Pawar ji because he is the arcitect of current Maharashtra Government. Is it what the so called third front is going to do finally? Congress must take a stand on this issue."

A former Shiv Sena leader, Nirupam joined the Congress in 2005.

In an eight-page letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Singh, who has been replaced as Mumbai Police Commissioner over 'unforgivable lapses' in the industrialist Mukesh Ambani's security scare probe this week, alleged that Anil Deshmukh used to call police officers including Sachin Waze to his official residence and give them a "collection target" from bars, restaurants and other establishments.

According to the letter, Singh claimed to have received a monthly “target” of Rs 100 crore.

“There are about 1,750 bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai and if a sum of Rs 2-3 lakh each was collected from each of them, a monthly collection of Rs 40-50 crore was achievable," Singh alleged.

To support his allegation, Singh enclosed several WhatsApp chats between himself and Assistant Police Commissioner Sanjay Patil dated March 16 and 19.

In the letter, Singh said, "In the aforesaid context, Shri Sachin Vaze who was heading the Crime Intelligence Unit of the Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police was called by Shri Anil Deshmukh, Hon'ble Home Minister, Maharashtra to his official residence Dyaneshwar several times in last few months and repeatedly instructed to assist in collection of funds for the Hon'ble Home Minister."

"Shri Vaze came to my office the same day and informed me of the above. I was shocked with the above discussion and was mulling over how to deal with the situation."

"At one of the briefing sessions in the wake of the Antilia incident held in mid-March 2021 when I was called late evening at Varsha to brief you, I had pointed out several misdeeds and malpractices being indulged into by the Hon'ble Home Minister. I have similarly briefed the Hon'ble Deputy Chief Minister, Maharashtra, the President of the Nationalist Congress Party, Shri Sharad Pawar and other senior Ministers also about the misdeeds and malpractices. On my briefings, I noticed that some of the Ministers were already aware about some aspects mentioned by me to them," he further wrote.

The explosive allegations have left the Maharashtra Government in a fresh crisis, which prompted demands by the opposition for the resignation of Deshmukh.

The Home Minister has, however, denied the charges and said he will sue Singh for defamation.

In a Twitter post, Deshmukh wrote: "The former Commissioner of Police, Parambir Singh has made false allegations in order to save himself as the involvement of Sachin Waze in Mukesh Ambani & Mansukh Hiren’s case is becoming clearer from the investigation carried out so far & threads are leading to Mr. Singh as well."

Meanwhile, Singh, who has been transferred to the Home Guard in the fallout of the investigation in the case, has confirmed that the letter was from his own email id, said reports.

Allies Shiv Sena and NCP have also been blaming each other for mishandling of the Ambani security scare case.

The controversy started after an SUV with explosives was found near Ambani's house, Antilia. The vehicle was loaded with explosives and a threat letter to the Ambanis.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and National Investigation Agaency (NIA) have now found the CCTV footage which shows Vaze with Mansukh Hiren, the owner of the car, on the day when the Scorpio went missing. They met near the General Post Office for about ten minutes inside a black Mercedes-Benz, said an NDTV report. This vehicle was one of the many traced to the cop by the investigating officials, the report added.

Hiren had told the police that he had parked the SUV on the highway in the Vikhroli area of central Mumbai and took a taxi to go to Crawford Market in south Mumbai, said the report. Next day he realised that the SUV was stolen.

Vaze had borrowed this Scorpio from Hiren for four months and had returned it on February 5.

Reports said Hiren Mansukh's statement was taken by Vaze when he was heading the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) but he did not mention the February 17 meeting with the auto parts trader.

Hiren went missing on the night of March 4 and his body was found in a creek in Thane, the next day.