Mumbai Cyber Police has issued a notice to senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis to appear before them on Sunday in connection with the alleged illegal tapping of phones, an official said on Saturday.
Fadnavis, however, said that a senior police officer called to inform him that the police would visit his residence to collect necessary information and that there was no need for him to visit the BKC Cyber Police Station.
Just got a call from Joint CP, Crime. He said that I don’t need to go to BKC police station. Instead, they will come only to collect necessary information. I have canceled all my Pune events for tomorrow. I will be here at my residence. They can come anytime. Jaihind, JaiMaharashtra! – Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) 12 March 2022
Phones of political leaders including state Congress chief Nana Patole, minister Bachcha Kadu, former MLA Ashish Deshmukh, former MP Sanjay Kakade and others were illegally tapped by IPS officer Rashmi Shukla when she was the state’s intelligence chief, Maharashtra Home. Minister Dilip Walse Patil made the allegation last month.
“In the notice issued to Fadnavis, the police have stated that questionnaires regarding the matter were earlier sent to him in sealed covers, but he did not respond to them. Apart from this, notices were also issued to him twice seeking answers, but he again failed to respond,” said the police officer. In addition, three letters were sent to Fadnavis, reminding him to appear before the police.
However, he could not give any answer. He said that in the latest notice, he has been asked to appear before the cyber police on Sunday. Last year, a case was registered at Mumbai’s BKC Cyber Police Station under the Official Secrets Act against unidentified persons for allegedly illegal phone tapping and leaking of confidential documents. The complaint was lodged by the State Intelligence Department (SID).
However, before the registration of the FIR, the then Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, Sitaram Kunte, in his investigation report had alleged that IPS officer Rashmi Shukla had leaked the confidential report. Shukla is accused of tapping the phones of political leaders and senior officials when she was the head of the SID. Fadnavis found himself at the center of controversy by referring to a letter purportedly written by him to the then Director General of Police regarding alleged corruption in transfers in the police department.
The letter also contained details of the intercepted phone calls, leading the leaders of the Shiv Sena-led ruling coalition to allege that Shukla tapped phones without permission. In April last year, the Mumbai Police had summoned Shukla for questioning before the BKC Cyber Cell. She did not come, citing the coronavirus pandemic.
In May, a team of Mumbai Cyber Police recorded his statement in Hyderabad in connection with the phone tapping leak case.
Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Fadnavis told reporters that he had received the notice and would go to the police station at 11 am on Sunday if asked. Later, he tweeted saying, “Just got a call from Joint CP (Crime) informing me that there is no need to go to BKC Cyber Police Station. They will come to my residence to get necessary information. I will stay at my residence. I have canceled all events in Pune for tomorrow. They can come anytime.
The former chief minister said he was served the notice as he exposed the MVA government of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress.
He said, ‘I demand that the investigation of this (phone tapping case) be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The state government cannot properly investigate such cases.” He said, “The state is trying to put pressure on me because I exposed the scam of transfer in the state police force… I have more evidence. To whom I will hand over. CBI only. I will cooperate with Mumbai Police in tomorrow’s investigation as well.”
The Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly alleged that the state government and the police department were in panic, hence a notice has been issued to him. Walse Patil had also claimed that a high level investigation found that senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla had illegally tapped the phone. On Saturday, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil said that party workers will burn photocopies of the notice given to Fadnavis by Mumbai Police.
Talking to reporters in Kolhapur, Patil said, “Issuing notice to Devendra Fadnavis by Maharashtra Police is wrong and illegal. Whatever information Fadnavis disclosed was in the public interest.
“He can give additional information to the investigating agency CBI. But Fadnavis is not obliged to disclose his source, he said. Asked about Fadnavis submitting a pen drive in the Assembly, which allegedly contained videos of a “conspiracy hatched by MVA leaders to implicate BJP MLA Girish Mahajan and others”, Patil said, the MVA government has made allegations against him. A notice has been issued to Fadnavis in this regard. What Fadnavis disclosed in the ongoing budget session about these video clips put up by him against the MVA government a few months ago have not even been used for registering an FIR in this case.
The Ramayana of the latest allegations has not started yet. He said that all the wrongdoings of the MVA government are piling up and it will surely come crashing down under that burden.
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