In another shocking revelation, it has come to light that Rashmi Shukla had written to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray about the transfer-posting racket in August 2020 and urged him to take action. Devendra Fadnavis, who also raked up the case of IPS officer and former Commissioner of Intelligence (COI) Rashmi Shukla, said he has sought the appointment of the Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla in Delhi to apprise him of the allegations made by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.
Addressing the media, Fadnavis on Tuesday said, “COI sent a report of intercepted suspicious calls to be involved in transfer racket to DG Maharashtra in August 2020. It was next forwarded to the Chief Minister who expressed concern but took no action. I have data of 6.3 GB containing all the information.”
“When the DG inquired about the report, he got to know that it was sent to the Home Minister (Anil Deshmukh). No action was taken against the people involved but the action was taken against COI Rashmi Shukla who prepared the report. Her promotion was delayed and transferred to a post that did not even exist when she was sent there,” he stated.
The former Chief Minister further said the case should be investigated by the CBI, “These audio recordings are very serious. I am going to Delhi today to meet the Union Home Secretary and will demand a CBI probe.”
Seven months after the report, no action has been taken. Though Uddhav Thackeray expressed his concerns over the report and corruption in police transfers, he has kept quiet on the entire episode may be owing to political compulsions. Surprisingly, the report was forwarded to the Home Minister for further action.
Fadnavis claimed that Subodh Jaiswal opted for Central deputation as he was disillusioned that no action was taken on the report. He added that Shukla’s promotion as Director-General was also blocked by the government. He also alleged that officers whose names came up in the intercepted calls managed to land plum postings.
Reacting to the Home Minister›s video message, the BJP leader said, «As per police records of VIP movements, Deshmukh went to Sahyadri Guest House on 17 February and Mantralaya on 24 February. He was in home quarantine from 15 to 27 February but met officers. He was not in isolation. I feel Pawar sahab was not briefed properly yesterday.»
Meanwhile, NCP spokesperson and Minority Minister Nawab Malik in a press conference claimed that the report given by Shukla was done based on illegal phone intercepts. No permission was given to tap the phones. He accused her and Subodh Jaiswal of working at the behest of the BJP. Shukla was illegally tapping 30 politicians’ phones when MVA government formation was taking place. She was habitually doing phone tapping even after the formation of government and working as a BJP agent so was shifted from the intelligence department. Fadnavis presented all false information.
Malik added that Shukla was working as a BJP agent and providing inside government information by tapping our own leader›s phone. No transfer was done by taking money. There is a separate board for it. He also countered Singh›s allegations. Malik asked what did he discuss with Sachin Vaze for three hours before he was arrested in the Mansukh Hiren case? Fadnavis and BJP are trying to pull down the MVA government since they failed to lure our MLAs and snatch power, he alleged.