On Monday( August 5), dismissed Mumbai Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Waze informed a special court that he had sent a detailed letter to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on July 30. In the letter, Waze accused former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of coercing him into illegal activities.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
MUMBAI: Dismissed Mumbai Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Waze informed a special court on Monday(5th August) that he had written a detailed letter to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on July 30. In this letter, Waze made serious allegations against former Maharashtra Home Minister and NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh.
Waze claimed that Deshmukh coerced him into undertaking several “illegal works”. He asserted that Deshmukh often mentioned that “Pawar Sahib” and “Patil” had directed these tasks. However, Waze admitted that he never had the courage to ask Deshmukh who “Pawar Sahib” was.
During his tenure, Waze led the intelligence unit of the Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police. His career took a dramatic turn when he was arrested in connection with the 2021 bomb scare near Mukesh Ambani’s residence in south Mumbai and the subsequent murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran. Following his arrest, Waze accused Deshmukh of extortion.
Waze alleged that Deshmukh had instructed the Mumbai Police to collect Rs 100 crore per month from various business establishments across Mumbai and its surrounding areas. These allegations were echoed by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, leading to Deshmukh’s resignation as home minister in April 2021.
Deshmukh’s legal troubles deepened with his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case in November 2021, followed by an arrest by the CBI in a corruption case in April 2022. Deshmukh was held in judicial custody for over a year before being granted bail by the Bombay High Court.
ALSO READ: Chandigarh Court Shooting: Suspended Punjab AIG Shoots IRS Son-in-Law in Domestic Resolution Meeting
In his letter, Waze detailed an incident involving the biggest raid on hookah bars in Mumbai. He stated that his team had sealed the godown of the largest hookah distributor in India.
“Instead of arresting the primary distributor, former minister and NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil directed me to arrest someone else.”
-Waze said.
Waze also referred to the Chandiwal Commission, established by the then Maha Vikas Aghadi government to investigate the corruption allegations against Deshmukh.
“Justice Chandiwal dismissed Deshmukh’s efforts to influence the investigation.”
– Waze said, noting that he was falsely implicated in a case during the commission’s investigation.
Although the Commission’s report has been submitted to the Maharashtra government, it has not been made public yet.
Further, Waze accused Deshmukh’s associates of not delivering on their promises despite taking large sums of money. He also mentioned an officer, Vijay Deshmukh from Thane, who suffered significantly due to Deshmukh’s actions.
Waze, who received a pardon from the CBI court in exchange for full disclosure in the case against Deshmukh, has not yet been granted bail. In the ED case, while the agency initially had no objections to Waze’s plea for pardon, he later withdrew his consent in July last year, claiming there was sufficient prima facie evidence against all accused. This withdrawal was purportedly due to the agency’s displeasure with Waze for backtracking before the Chandiwal Commission. It was this retraction by Waze that led to Deshmukh being granted bail by the Bombay High Court in the ED case and subsequently in the CBI court.
The court has yet to decide whether Waze can be pardoned and made a witness in the case against the other accused in the ED case.
