In a recent development, Maharashtra BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule has issued a challenge to former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, suggesting that Deshmukh should undergo a narco test. Bawankule's call comes in response to dismissed police inspector Sachin Waze's willingness to take the same test.
Bawankule has accused Deshmukh of avoiding cooperation with ongoing investigations and instead focusing his attention on Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. According to Bawankule, Deshmukh should be willing to undergo a narco test if Waze, who has been entangled in several controversies, is prepared to do so.
"My request to Anil Deshmukh is that Sachin Waze is ready for a narco test. Deshmukh should also express his willingness to undergo such an investigation instead of only discussing Devendra Fadnavis," Bawankule told the media. He further added, "No leader of the Maha Vikas Aghadi can speak without mentioning Devendra Fadnavis. They fear their corruption will be exposed."
Earlier, Deshmukh, a member of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), claimed that Waze and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had made similar accusations against him three years ago, under the influence of Devendra Fadnavis, who is now the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
Deshmukh stated, "The allegations made against me yesterday by Sachin Waze were also levelled by him and Param Bir Singh three years ago, at the behest of Devendra Fadnavis."
Deshmukh also mentioned that when he was accused three years ago, he requested an investigation into the matter. This led to an inquiry by High Court Justice Chandiwal, whose report eventually cleared him of any wrongdoing. However, Deshmukh alleges that Fadnavis has not made the report public because it exonerates him.
"When I was accused three years ago, I asked the Chief Minister to investigate the allegations. The Chief Minister assigned the task to Justice Chandiwal of the High Court. Justice Chandiwal conducted a detailed inquiry over 11 months, producing a 1,400-page report.
The report was handed over to the government two years ago... I have been given a clean chit in that report. Because of this, Devendra Fadnavis is not making the report public. I urge him to make the 1,400-page report public," Deshmukh said.
Deshmukh also pointed out that Fadnavis continues to rely on Sachin Waze, who is currently in jail, to make allegations against him. "Yesterday, Devendra Fadnavis again used Sachin Waze to level allegations against me.
Everyone knows that Sachin Waze is accused in a terrorist case and two murder cases. He is in jail, and Fadnavis has to rely on him to level allegations against me. It is surprising," Deshmukh added.
Sachin Waze, a dismissed Mumbai Assistant Police Inspector, has been embroiled in multiple controversies, including a Rs 100 crore extortion case. Recently, Waze claimed that he had written a letter to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, providing evidence of alleged bribes taken by Anil Deshmukh.
"Whatever has happened, the proof is there. The money went through his (Deshmukh’s) PA; the CBI has the evidence. I have also written to Devendra Fadnavis and submitted all the evidence, including mentioning Jayant Patil," Waze told. He also stated, "I am ready for that (a narco test)."
Waze is the prime accused in the 2021 Antilia bomb scare and the Mansukh Hiren murder case. He is alleged to have placed an explosive-laden vehicle near Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s house, Antilia, in Mumbai on February 25, 2021. The NIA arrested Waze in March 2021 in connection with the investigation into the recovery of explosives from the car parked near Ambani’s house.
Former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh was arrested by the ED in 2021 in an alleged money laundering case and spent several months in jail.
The CBI had registered a corruption case against Deshmukh following allegations that, as home minister, he directed police officials to collect Rs 100 crore per month from bar owners. Deshmukh was later arrested in the case and subsequently secured bail.
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