Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil orders probe into DCP’s audio clip

PUNE: State home minister Dilip Walse-Patil said here on Friday that he has asked Pune police commissioner Amitabh Gupta to conduct an inquiry into an audio clip circulating on social media in which a woman deputy commissioner of police (DCP) can be heard instructing a junior officer to get food from an eatery without paying for it.
“I have heard the audio clip and the matter appears to be serious,” Walse-Patil told reporters on the sidelines of the Covid-19 review meeting at the Council Hall. “I have asked the police commissioner to conduct an inquiry and submit a report. We will take a further call on action, once we get the report,” he added.
When contacted, Gupta said, “I do not wish to speak on the issue as of now.”

Speaking to TOI, the DCP, at the center of the issue, said, “The audio clip is doctored, and it is an attempt by some vested interest within the city police to frame me in a needless controversy. A part of the clip does contain my voice, but someone has dubbed the remaining part of my voice before making it viral on social media. I have already briefed the police chief about the audio clip and I have sought his permission to register an FIR.”
She added, “Ever since I took charge as a DCP last year, I have stopped all illegal activities in areas under the jurisdiction of six police stations in my zone. I even got certain policemen posted at the same place for 12 years, transferred to other postings. The policemen, having vested interest, did not like my action and they have started harassing me. The policemen, who are receiving support from senior police officers, have hatched a conspiracy to defame me in public.”
What’s in the viral clip?
In the audio clip circulating on social media, a senior woman police officer can be heard conversing in Marathi with a subordinate policeman, asking him to get the best of less oil and less spicy non-veg dishes for her and her husband from a particular popular non-vegetarian eatery located in her zone. She is further heard asking the policeman not to bother much about payment as the same would be taken care of by the police officer in-charge of the area. She also offers to speak to the police officer, but the subordinate is heard saying he will take care of the matter. The woman officer is heard asking the policeman normally what they do in such a situation and the man replies that he is in the habit of paying the bill and collecting food parcels. The woman officer is then heard saying what is the use of paying money if the eatery is located in their zone.