Phone tapping case: BJP protests as Mumbai cops record Fadnavis' statement

Ex-Maharashtra chief minister is facing questioning over the case in which former Pune top cop Rashmi Shukla is accused of illegally tapping phones of prominent opposition leaders when he was the chief minister

The Mumbai Cyber Police on Sunday ecorded the statement of former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at his residence in the phone tapping case.

BJP leaders stage protest against Mumbai police notice to former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in alleged transfer posting case (Twitter/ANI)

“A police team recorded my statement in the transfer, posting case. I answered all questions. Maharashtra govt had been brushing aside the case for the past six months. I am a whistleblower of this case,” Fadnavis said.

“I submitted the documents regarding State's transfer case to Union Home Secretary. I haven't shared the documents with the media,” he added.

The Bharatiya Janata Party staged protests in Nagpur and Pune against the Uddhav Thackeray government over the Mumbai police notice to former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in the phone-tapping case. The BJP workers carried out a procession across the cities shouting slogans against the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra.

On Saturday, Fadnavis had alleged that the Aghadi government was protecting the scamsters involved in transfer and postings racket.

"Had the government caught the scamsters and those who are being probed by the CBI on time and not brushed the matter aside for six months, then I need not have exposed it. The State Government wants to protect them and somebody who has exposed this is being called to the police station,

Last month, Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil had alleged that IPS officer Rashmi Shukla had tapped phones of state Congress chief Nana Patole, minister Bachchu Kadu, former MLA Ashish Deshmukh, former MP Sanjay Kakade and others during her stint as the Pune Police Commissioner during the previous BJP-Sena government led by Fadnavis.

On March 4, the Bombay High Court had granted Rashmi Shukla protection from arrest till March 25. The IPS officer has been booked by the Pune and Mumbai Police.

The FIR in Pune was based on a complaint filed by Nana Patole who claimed his phone was tapped on the premise that it belonged to a person involved in drugs racket.

During the hearing, Shukla's lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani had told the high court that the FIR was filed at the behest of the Aghadi government as she had submitted a report during her stint as the state intelligence department chief mentioning names of senior politicians involved in the transfer and postings of the police officers.