Suspended assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze on Wednesday told the State-appointed one-member committee that he met the former home minister Anil Deshmukh’s personal assistant (PA) Sanjeev Palande at his residence, but there was no conversation or demand regarding any money.

He told the commission that he wasn’t given any special powers to seize any bar or hotel, nor was he trusted with certain “important” cases to probe.

Waze testified before the commission chaired by Justice (retd.) Kailash Chandiwal, who is investigating the allegations made by former top cop Parambir Singh against Deshmukh.

He was cross-examined by Palande’s advocate Shekhar Jagtap, who sought information on the cases allotted to him after his reinstatement into the force.

Waze stated that Singh didn’t give him any special cases related to any city bars or hotels.

“I didn’t meet any representative of bars and hotels. Neither do I remember if any of them met me at my office,” Waze told the commission.

He also denied any special powers allotted to him to take action on any eateries. “I used to get instructions from my bosses regarding the cases I probed, including that by Parambir Singh, who instructed me through proper channels,” Vaze added.

Further, he was later shown a letter written by Singh to the chief minister earlier this year, claiming Deshmukh had asked Vaze to extort Rs 100 crore per month from the city’s bars and restaurants.

After going through the contentious letter, he accepted to have met Palande at Deshmukh’s residence in February 2021 but denied “any such money demand or communication”.

The commission would continue to cross-examine Vaze on Thursday.

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