Facing the heat in the Antilia-Scorpio bomb planting case and the death of SUV owner Mansukh Hiren, Maharashtra’s Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Friday air-dashed to New Delhi to meet NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, the chief architect of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
The development comes a day after Deshmukh admitted “serious and unpardonable mistakes” by Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze that led to the transfer of Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh.
After the meeting with Pawar, Deshmukh said, “I met Sharad Pawar ji at his residence in Delhi and had discussions on the Antilia case. I also informed him that the State Government is extending full cooperation to NIA and lawful actions will be taken based on the findings.”
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena continued to defend Singh, who has been transferred as Director General of Home Guards and Civil Defence. “Param Bir Singh was replaced in the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner, which doesn't mean he is guilty,” Sena said in its editorial Saamana on Friday.
The Saamana editorial comes a day after Deshmukh spoke out on the issue. “Two agencies, the NIA and the ATS, are probing... Both reputed agencies are carrying out the investigations professionally… Some junior officers (Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze) has made mistakes which are serious and unforgivable, such mistakes cannot be ignored…He (Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh) is the overall in charge, it is better that he is posted elsewhere so that there is an impartial probe.”
It may be mentioned that the Shiv Sena is constantly under fire from the Opposition BJP for defending Vaze.
After the conclusion of the Budget Session of Maharashtra Legislature, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had said, “'Sachin Vaze is not Osama Bin Laden. It is not right to target a person and hang him and then investigate”.
The Saamana editorial further points out, “The government has to do the rejig in police under certain specific circumstances….he took the command of the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner during very difficult times.”
Meanwhile, senior Congressman Sanjay Nirupam, who is known for his anti-Shiv Sena stance, said, “The Shiv Sena is hailing Param Bir Singh. The Home Minister says he (Mumbai CP) was at fault… This statement (of Shiv Sena) would go against the (Maha Vikas Aghadi) government. The Sachin Vaze episode seems to be an extortion racket… its strings attached to Shiv Sena?”.