'Anil Deshmukh should resign or CM should sack him': Fadnavis on claims made by Param Bir Singh

Anil Deshmukh has refuted the allegations and said that Singh made the claims as his involvement in Ambani bomb scare case as well as in the case of Mansukh Hiran's death was getting clearer.

Leader of opposition in Maharashtra Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis, on Saturday said that state home minister Anil Deshmukh should either resign or chief minister Uddhav Thackeray must sack him over his alleged association with Mumbai cop Sachin Vaze, who has been arrested in connection with the Mukesh Ambani security threat case.

Maharashtra former chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis addressing a press conference at BJP headquarters in New Delhi. (ANI File Photo )

"We demand Maharashtra home minister's resignation. If he doesn't then CM must remove him," the former chief minister said.

Fadnavis’ remarks came shortly after former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh accused Deshmukh of being involved in extortion through Vaze. Singh made the allegations in a letter sent to Thackeray.

"Home minister Anil Deshmukh expressed to Sachin Vaze that he had a target to accumulate ₹100 crore a month," Singh’s letter tweeted by news agency ANI reads. According to the letter, Singh informed Thackeray, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar about the home minister’s actions.

“Sachin Vaze who was heading the Crime Intelligence Unit of the Crime Branch of Mumbai Police was called by Anil Deshmukh to his official residence in the last few months and repeatedly instructed to assist the collection of funds for the home minister,” the letter reads.

“For achieving the target, home minister told Vaze that there were about 1750 bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai and if a sum of ₹2-3 lakhs were collected from each of them, a monthly collection of ₹40-50 crore was achievable,” Singh told the CM in the letter.

The home minister, however, has refuted the allegations and said that Singh made the claims as his involvement in Ambani bomb scare case as well as in the case of Mansukh Hiran's death was getting clearer. “There are possibilities of him getting exposed, the then police commissioner Param Bir Singh made false allegations against me to save himself from the action," Deshmukh said in a series of tweets.

Fadvnavis, meanwhile, said that apart from Deshmukh’s resignation, there must be an impartial probe into the matter by central agencies or a court-monitored probe.

"This is more explosive than the gelatin sticks which were recovered. The charges made by Param Bir Singh are serious. Singh has also attached some chats as evidence," he said.

"Letter also states that CM was intimated about this earlier so why didn't he act on it?" Fadnavis asked.

The Ambani security threat cases as well as Hiran’s death case are currently being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).