Mobile phones of four elected representatives were kept on surveillance by former Pune police commissioner Rashmi Shukla during 2017-18 by falsely showing them as drug peddlers, Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil informed the Assembly on Monday. Ms. Shukla, against whom two FIRs have been registered, is presently being protected by the Bombay High Court from arrest.
“Mobile numbers of Nana Patole, Bachchu Kadu, Sambhaji Kakde and Ashish Deshmukh were being tapped as per the inquiry report. This was done in 2017 and 2018 when the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power in Maharashtra,” said Mr. Walse-Patil. He was replying to the discussion on State’s law and order situation. Mr. Patole, who is the president of the Maharashtra Congress, was a BJP MP then, while Mr. Kakde and Mr. Deshmukh were BJP Rajya Sabha MP and BJP MLA respectively. Mr. Kadu, an Independent MLA, represents his party Prahar.
“To ensure sanction for tapping, Mr. Patole’s number was shown as that of Amjad Khan, Kadu as Nijamuddin Babu Sheikh, Kakde as Tarbez Sutar and Deshmukh’s two numbers were shown as of Raghu Chorge and Hina Salunkhe,” the Minister informed, adding that further probe will reveal who directed the surveillance. Present Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis was the Chief Minister then and was also holding the charge of Home department.
