After NCP meet, Jayant Patil says ‘Param Bir Singh's letter attempt to divert attention’

Jayant Patil's remarks came after an urgent meeting of top party leaders convened by NCP’s national chief Sharad Pawar.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Maharashtra president Jayant Patil on Sunday said that Param Bir Singh’s letter accusing state home minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption is an attempt to divert attention from the probe in Mukesh Ambani security threat case.

Patil asserted that the state government has decided to conduct a fair probe in the Ambani bomb scare case. (HT File Photo )

“The letter by Param Bir Singh is an afterthought and an attempt to divert the attention...Right now our focus is to find out the culprits in the Ambani bomb scare and Hiran death case,” Patil told reporters in Delhi.

His remarks came after an urgent meeting of top party leaders convened by NCP’s national chief Sharad Pawar. Patil also ruled out speculations about the party’s plan to replace Deshmukh, saying “there’s no question of taking resignation of home minister.”

Patil asserted that the state government has decided to conduct a fair probe in the bomb scare case. “We will reach the guilty even if they are officers in high positions,” he told reporters after the NCP meeting.

The meeting was called a day after former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh, who was recently shunted out, wrote to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray alleging that Deshmukh told Sachin Vaze, the cop arrested in connection the security threat case, to collect ₹100 crore a month from restaurants and bars in Mumbai.

Several opposition leaders including Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s (MNS’) Raj Thackeray demanded the state home minister’s resignation over the charges levelled against him. Deshmukh, meanwhile has denied the extortion claims and accused Singh of trying to save himself as his involvement in the bomb scare case was becoming evident. On Saturday, the minister said that he is filing a defamation case against the former top cop.

Earlier in the day, Pawar had said that allegations against Deshmukh are serious and that it is the prerogative of the chief minister to take appropriate action.

Following the uproar over the issue, all three constituents, Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Congress, of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government in the state are expected to hold a series of meetings on Monday. They are likely to take a call on Deshmukh.