Alleging “dirty politics” was being played out to weaken and destabilise the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday categorically stated such attempts “will not be successful”.
Questioning the new trend of getting letters written from the accused locked up in jail, Raut said “never before has the country seen dirty politics being played out in such a manner like indulging in character assassination using investigation agencies and IT cells of political parties and letters from accused locked up in jail.”
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Raut, who is the Shiv Sena MP from Rajya Sabha, without naming the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre said such attempts will not succeed.
The Shiv Sena leader also extended his support to Maharashtra Transport Minister Anil Parab against whom allegations of extortion charges have been levelled by suspended Mumbai Police assistant inspector Sachin Vaze.
“I know Anil Parab. He is a staunch Shiv Sainik and will never swear wrongly in the name of Balasaheb Thackeray,” PTI quoted Raut as saying.
The remarks came a day after Vaze in a hand-written letter to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) alleged that Parab asked him to extract Rs 50 crore from the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT).
“I had expressed my inability to do any such thing as I do not know anybody from SBUT and also I did not have any control over the inquiry,” he wrote.
Vaze claimed that Parab called him in January 2021 asking to look into the probe against some contractors listed in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and collect Rs 2 crore from each of them.
“He told me to collect at least Rs 2 crores from 50 such contractors. An inquiry was on in this matter based on an anonymous complaint. The Crime Intelligence Unit inquiry against the contractors had not yielded any result,” he wrote.
READ: Sachin Vaze's Letter To NIA: 'Maharashtra Ministers Anil Deshmukh, Anil Parab Forced Me To Extort'
Vaze, who was arrested on March 13 over his alleged role in planting an explosive-laden SUV near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house in south Mumbai on February 25, also levelled allegations against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh.
Stating that Sharad Pawar wanted to revoke his reinstatement to the Mumbai Police in 2020, Vaze said Deshmukh allegedly told him that he would convince the National Congress Party (NCP) chief to allow him back in the force if he pays Rs 2 crore.
Vaze, currently under the NIA custody, wrote: “The home minister told me that he will convince Pawar saheb and for that purpose, he asked me to pay Rs 2, 00, 00,000. I had expressed my inability to pay such an amount. On this, the home minister asked me to pay it in a later course.”