Mumbai/New Delhi, March 17
Under flak for ‘mishandling’ of the bomb scare outside Mukesh Ambanis residence, Maharashtra Government on Wednesday transferred Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh from the post.
Senior IPS officer Hemant Nagrale, holding additional charge of Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP), will be the new Mumbai Police Commissioner and replace Singh, who has been posted to the state Home Guard, state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said.
Deshmukh, who met Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray earlier in the day, made the announcement on Twitter amid speculation in media over Singh’s handling of the Sachin Vaze episode.
“Big decision of the government. Shri Hemant Nagrale will be the new Mumbai Police Commissioner. Shri Rajnish Seth will have the additional charge of the post of Director General of Police, Maharashtra,” Deshmukh tweeted.
“Shri Sanjay Pandey will have the responsibility of Maharashtra State Security Corporation. Shri Param Bir Singh will have the responsibility of the Home Guard, he added.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s move comes in the wake of a series of meetings among the ruling Shiv Sena- NCP-Congress alliance leaders.
Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party however was far from satisfied. The BJP, which fell out with the Shiv Sena over the chief minister’s position in 2019, said the Maharashtra government under Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray mere transfers wouldn’t absolve it, and call for its resignation. Devendra Fadnavis slammed the Uddhav Thackeray government.
Fadnavis said Vaze killed Mansukh Hiren and threw his body in the creek. However, his body did not wash away because of low tide, alleged Fadnavis.
The post-mortem report is clear that his lungs do not have water which means that he was killed and his body thrown in the creek, said Fadnavis.
ATS and NIA have tapes, which have the voice of Mansukh and also what Vaze told him. “However, despite so many proofs, ATS is sitting over the issue.”
“However, we believe that the matter should be handed over to NIA as required actions are not being taken by ATS. I believe, Sachin Vaze is a small cog in a very big conspiracy. This is not a failure of police but the government,” Fadnavis said.
The former CM said the way Thackeray is defending Vaze, a connection between the two should be probed.
Fadnavis said Param Bir Singh and Sachin Vaze are “small players”. “Those who are operating Vaze are sitting in the government, who will investigate them,” Fadnavis questioned.
“There is no point in asking for the resignation of Uddhav Thackeray. By my asking, he will not give the resignation. My point is investigating agencies should not come under any pressure now, howsoever important the people with whom Vaze’s connections are established. I expect investigating agencies that if the links go to higher authorities they should be investigated. Vaze was in talks with those running betting racket in Mumbai,” said Fadnavis.
The former CM also claimed that when he was in office he was approached by Thackeray and others for reinstating Sachin Vaze.
Vaze is at the focus of a probe by the National Investigating Agency in a case related to the recovery of an SUV with explosives near Ambani’s house in Mumbai.
Mumbai police officer Vaze, arrested in the case on March 13 for his alleged role in the crime, was attached to the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of city police’s crime branch till recently. He was suspended after NIA arrested him in the case.
The latest development follows Monday’s talks between Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, amid reports that Vaze had stage-managed the bomb scare on the instructions of Singh.
The NIA team recovered some “incriminating” documents and electronic evidence such as laptop, iPad and mobile phones from Vaze’s office, an official of the agency said on Tuesday.
A black Mercedes car, being used by Vaze, was also seized from a parking lot near the CSMT station, and Rs 5 lakh in cash, a note-counting machine, two number plates and some clothes were recovered from it, the official added.
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