NCP counters Fadnavis’ corruption claims, alleges illegal phone tapping

NCP chief spokesperson and state minister Nawab Malik said the party is trying other methods to pull down the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government since they failed to lure the coalition’s MLAs

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) countered the allegations of corruption in police personnel transfer made by leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis citing a report of former DGP Subodh Jaiswal and phone call records. The ruling party claimed that transfer of 80% of the police officers mentioned in the report didn’t take place and former intelligence commissioner Rashmi Shukla illegally tapped the phones of people. He also said that Shukla was tapping the phones of all the political leaders even when the state was facing a crisis over government formation in 2019 after the state assembly elections.

NCP chief spokesperson and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik. (ANI)

NCP chief spokesperson and state minister Nawab Malik also alleged that both Shukla and Jaiswal were working for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the erstwhile BJP-Shiv Sena government. He said the party is trying other methods to pull down the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government since they failed to lure the coalition’s MLAs.

Malik was responding to the allegations made by the former chief minister.

Malik, who is also minority affairs minister, clarified that police personnel are transferred as per recommendations of two boards of police establishment, one headed by additional chief secretary, home, and another by the DGP himself. The first board looks after the transfer of senior officers and second of the junior officers.

“BJP pulled down governments in Karnataka, Uttarakhand, northeast India and Madhya Pradesh, but it failed to pull down the MVA government by luring our MLAs in the state. Now they are trying to bring down the MVA government by defaming [us] and creating sensation with false allegations,” Malik said.

“According to Jaiswal’s report, there was corruption in police personnel transfers, but transfer of 80% of the police officers mentioned in the report didn’t take place at all. Rashhmi Shukla, who prepared this report also tapped phones of the people involved in the alleged racket with permission from ACS, home, according to Fadnavis. Here again, it is not right as she didn’t obtain permission and tapped phone records illegally, which is a crime,” Malik said.

“This is not the first time she was tapping phones. We have information that she was tapping phone calls of all the political leaders when the state was facing a crisis over government formation (in 2019),” Malik alleged.