Radheshyam Mopalwar (Express photo)
FOUR MONTHS after a committee appointed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis cleared Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) vice-chairman and MD Radheshyam Mopalwar of graft allegations, it emerges that the committee did not get original clips of an audio purportedly containing the 1995-batch IAS officer’s phone conversations with a middleman.
The conversation in the clip was about alleged bribes to farmers affected by the Rs 46,000-crore Nagpur-Mumbai Samriddhi corridor, an MSRDC project.
The clean chit was given on the basis of a report by Maharashtra Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) that these audio clips showed the voice was “similar” to that of Mopalwar, but it could not be verified whether it was edited.
An FSL official told The Indian Express that the laboratory did not get access to the original CD that had 35 audio clips of conversations, purportedly featuring Mopalwar and running to over three hours. This was the CD presented in Maharashtra Assembly on August 2 last year by Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil of the Congress.
The Indian Express has copies of the CD containing 35 unverified recordings.
Instead of this CD, the three-member committee — headed by former Chief Secretary Johny Joseph — said it got only two audio-video clips from TV news channels: a 7.11-minute clip from ABP Mazha and another of 2.07 minutes from Zee 24 Taas. These were handed over to FSL for analysis.
A senior FSL official said, “Our report mentioned that voice sample in the audio clip was similar to Mopalwar’s. The report said the test to confirm whether or not the audio was edited could not be done since we needed the original audio clip, and not an audio-video news clip that was provided.”
It would have been easier for FSL to verify whether the clips were continuous and, therefore, authentic if it had received the entire three-hour original audio, the official said. He added that the FSL did not seek the original sample, as it is not an investigating agency, and only conducts tests on exhibits sent to it. Joseph confirmed that the committee did not get the original clips, but declined to comment further.
Based on the committee’s report on November 30 last year, Mopalwar was reinstated in December. After retirement on February 28 this year, he was re-employed in the same post on contract.
A day after NCP legislator Ajit Pawar had raised the issue in Assembly, Fadnavis ordered a probe and Mopalwar was asked to go on leave on August 3, 2017. The committee, also comprising Additional CP R D Shinde and Deputy CP Parag Manere, was told to examine authenticity of the tapes and also ascertain whether the conversations, and allegations against Mopalwar, were linked to the Samriddhi Corridor project.
The FSL recorded fresh voice samples of Mopalwar and reported that the voice on the clips submitted was “similar” to the fresh voice samples. An FSL officer said that “similar” is the word most commonly used rather than a “match”, but the committee interpreted this as being inadequate evidence that the voice belonged to the IAS officer without seeking a clarification from FSL.
The committee said it had not inquired into allegations of disproportionate assets raised against Mopalwar, as the Anti-Corruption Bureau and Enforcement Directorate were probing these.
Mopalwar said, “This is an attempt to defame me. Satish Mangle, the detective who is believed to have leaked the recordings of the audio conversations, was summoned before the three-member committee twice. Why did he not give them the audio clips?” Vikhe Patil said: “If the committee did not find (the clips), they could have contacted us. We would have provided them the clippings.”
Mangle was arrested by Thane police on November 3 last year on charges of extorting money from Mopalwar.