Mumbai: In a sensational twist to the SUV case, former Mumbai Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh on Saturday hit out at Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh by virtually alleging that the minister wanted his team member, arrested cop Sachin Vaze, to ‘collect Rs 100 crore per month from bars and hookah parlours.
Taking strong umbrage at Deshmukh's remarks that Singh's transfer as Commandant-General of Maharashtra Home Guards was not for administrative purposes, but for "unpardonable lapses" by his team, the ex-Mumbai top cop shot off an eight-page missive to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, making shocking revelations.
"The Hon'ble Home Minister expressed to Shri Vaze that he had a target to accumulate ₹ 100 crores a month. For achieving the aforesaid target, the Hon'ble Home Minister told Shri Vaze that there are about 1,750 bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai and if a sum of ₹ 2-3 lakh each was collected from each of them, a monthly collection of ₹ 40-50 crore was achievable", the former Mumbai Police chief wrote.
"The Hon'ble Home Minister added that the rest of the collection could be made from other sources", he wrote.
"At one of the briefing sessions in the wake of the Antilia incident held in mid-March 2021 when I was called late evening at Varsha to brief you, I had pointed out several misdeeds and malpractices being indulged into by the Hon'ble Home Minister", Param Bir Singh wrote in the letter addressed to CM Uddhav Thackeray.
"I have similarly briefed the Hon'ble Deputy Chief Minister, Maharashtra, the President of the Nationalist Congress Party, Shri Sharad Pawar and other senior Ministers also about the misdeeds and malpractices. On my briefings, I noticed that some of the Ministers were already aware about some aspects mentioned by me to them", he wrote, according to the letter, the copy of which is now in public domain.
Hitting back at Singh, Deshmukh tweeted that the ex-Mumbai police chief was leveling false allegations against him to save himself from action in the SUV case and the case related to the death of Mansukh Hiran.
But even as the issue threatens to shake the foundation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress, top leaders remained incommunicado.
The SUV case refers to the explosives-laden Scorpio that was found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence in Mumbai last month.
Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran, who was in possession of the Scorpio, was found dead under mysterious circumstances on March 5.
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