Nagpur: BJP MLC Pravin Darekar on Tuesday, demanded setting up of a SIT to investigate the conspiracy to arrest then leader of Opposition (LoP) Devendra Fadnavis during MVA rule. He presented a pen drive in the legislative council, claiming it contains videos of a sting operation that reveal the ‘sinister' plan. Cabinet minister Shambhuraje Desai, speaking on behalf of the govt, said a SIT headed by a senior IPS officer will be constituted to probe into the matter.
Darekar said, "Footage of a sting operation shows a deputy police commissioner pressurizing a citizen to make false statements to frame then LoP Devendra Fadnavis."
He added, "In another video, ACP Sardar Patil can be seen speaking to another person, who sought to know why an old case was being reopened. That's when ACP Patil reveals that the original target of the case is Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde." Shinde at that time was a cabinet minister in Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA govt.
Targeting the opposition, Darekar said "Those who now say that don't act with a vengeance, did the same. This is now coming out in the public domain. The then LoP Fadnavis was cornering the govt by bringing up various issues, and this sting operation shows how the govt wanted to frame and arrest him." He added that even MVA cabinet minister Eknath Shinde was on their radar. He was the minister for urban development, but despite that Shinde was a target, he said.
"Now Maharashtra will know how the MVA was operating. Their real face will be revealed to citizens now," said Darekar, while looking at the opposition benches.
"I have three specific demands which I want to put before this house. In this incident, a crime should be registered and SIT formed. DCP Laxmikant Patil should be suspended. And former advocate general Shekhar Jagtap should be removed from the govt panel."
Darekar said former Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey was tasked with the job of getting Fadnavis arrested. "Who is Pandey to come up with such a plan? It can't be done without support from the CM and home minister. We all know what happened to the home minister (Anil Deshmukh who was arrested by ED), and that's why with revenge in mind they planned this," said Darekar. BJP MLC Prasad Lad said, "A case should be registered against Pandey for being part of the plot."
Replying on behalf of the govt, cabinet minister Shambhuraje Desai said "We will form a SIT under a senior IPS officer. If former DGP Pandey is found guilty, action will be taken against him too."
Opposition MLC Sachin Ahir said if such a conspiracy had indeed been hatched then it's highly regrettable. "But my query is that for almost three years now, the govt has been headed by the same people who have been named as targets. And if all this was happening, what was the Central intelligence apparatus doing back then," asked Ahir. "After Mahayuti came to power 2.5 years ago, why didn't the CM and deputy CM launch an investigation? I hope a mountain is not being made out of a molehill," said Ahir.