Voice in audio clips not mine, tapes doctored, Mopalwar tells probe panel

Radheshyam Mopalwar has been on leave since August when CM Devendra Fadnavis removed him from his posting as vice-chairman and managing director of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation

SENIOR Maharashtra bureaucrat Radheshyam Mopalwar has told a government-appointed committee, which is probing the veracity of audio clips in which the IAS officer is purportedly heard discussing a financial matter, that the voice in the audio clips leaked to the media earlier this year is not his. Mopalwar told the three-member committee constituted in August that the recordings of telephone conversations between him and an alleged middleman appear to be doctored.

Meanwhile, the committee has collected his voice samples and forwarded these to the Mumbai Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL). Mopalwar is on leave since August when Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis removed him from his posting as vice-chairman and managing director of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation.

The committee headed by former chief secretary Johny Joseph met Mopalwar on two occasions. Sources said the IAS officer denied all allegations during his deposition before the committee, whose other members are Additional Commissioner of Police R D Shinde and Deputy Commissioner of Police Parag Manere. “One mandate of the inquiry is to probe if the voice on the leaked audio tapes belongs to him. Mopalwar was quizzed on the same and claimed the tapes were doctored. He was then asked to give his voice samples for analysis,” said an official.

The committee is in possession of more than 35 unverified audio clips that are alleged to be recordings of phone conversations between Mopalwar and a middleman. In one clip, one of the men on the tape is heard referring to money to be paid at the state Secretariat. When contacted, Mopalwar refused to comment. Sources close to Mopalwar said the bureaucrat cannot speak to the media as the inquiry was under way. Mopalwar was at the helm of the Rs 46,000-crore Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Corridor project.

After an uproar in the monsoon session of the state legislature, the government constituted a three-member committee to verify the authenticity of the recordings and to probe whether the corruption charges are linked to Mopalwar’s role as vice-chairman and managing director of MSRDC.

Meanwhile, Satish Mangle, the complainant whose audio tapes led to the inquiry, recently wrote to Fadnavis demanding a Statutory Inquiry Commission instead of the committee. “The committee cannot summon accused persons, witnesses, make seizures or carry out raids. As per the guidelines of the Central Vigilance Commission, allegations against a public servant should be probed by either a central agency such as the CBI or the state Anti Corruption Bureau,” Mangle told The Indian Express.

Other than Mopalwar, the committee has also taken voice samples of Mangle. “On September 9, the committee requested me to join the investigation. They asked me to give my voice samples. While I have given my voice samples, I have also written to them, asking if they have powers to send the samples for analysis to the FSL,” Mangle said.

Previously, Mopalwar had denied the allegations. “These forged and doctored audio clips through voice modulation are made viral by individuals who have a background of committing technical crimes like procuring call data records (CDRs) illegally,” he had said in a text message.