Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said that he will file a defamation suit against former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh for levelling false corruption allegations against him in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, which was widely released in the media and has shaken the entire Maharashtra government.
Deshmukh, on late Saturday evening, issued a press release stating Singh’s accusations as an attempt to defame and blackmail the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, an alliance of Shiv Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party of Maharashtra. Taking to Twitter earlier, the NCP leader had refuted Singh's allegation that he had asked police officers to collect money from bars, restaurants, and other establishments.
Singh also alleged that Deshmukh often interfered with the police investigation in various cases and also made false statements about Singh’s transfer as Commandant General of Home Guards, Maharashtra.
Deshmukh asked why Singh has remained silent for so long and said the IPS officer was shifted from his commissioner post as he was only trying to save himself in the Sachin Vaze case.
"The allegations made by Singh are false and I am filing a case of defamation against him," Deshmukh said.
"In the Mukesh Ambani case and the Mansukh Hiran death case, Sachin Vaze's involvement was established and the trail was to reach Param Bir Singh. It is due to this possibility that these allegations have been levelled," Deshmukh said.
On Thursday, a day after Param Bir Singh was shunted out, Deshmukh had said he was transferred after some of his colleagues committed "serious and unforgivable mistakes".
Singh alleged in his letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that Deshmukh had told Vaze that he had set a target of collecting Rs 100 crore a month, half of it from nearly 1,750 bars, restaurants, and similar establishments operating in the city. He also alleged that Sachin Waze was used by Deshmukh to collect the funds.
"If Sachin Vaze told him about this in February, why was Singh quiet till now? Singh decided to reinstate Sachin Waze after 16 years (after he was suspended in Khwaja Yunus custodial death case)," Deshmukh said.
"Sensing trouble in the explosives case, Singh has levelled baseless allegations to blackmail the government. This is a conspiracy by Singh to mislead the probe into the explosives and Mansukh Hiran death cases," the minister said.
Alleging that Singh’s accusations are a part of a larger ploy and that Singh was systematically trying to collect evidence against Deshmukh.
After Deshmukh's interview on a Marathi news channel - Lokmat - on March 18, 2021, giving out details on Singh's transfer and the reasons for the same, Singh tried to create more evidence on WhatsApp on March 19, 2021.
Also Read: Pressure mounting on Maha HM Anil Deshmukh to quitPondering on why Singh didn’t say anything on this issue on the day of Waze’s arrest or when Waze informed Singh about the alleged meeting with Deshmukh back in February.
Deshmukh also alleged that Singh's letter was a ploy to divert from the serious investigations about the explosives case and the death of Mansukh Hiren who is linked to the SUV case.
Therefore, he has requested Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to initiate an enquiry into the matter.