Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Saturday asked Param Bir Singh to prove his extortion allegations against him adding he is filing a defamation suit against the former Mumbai police commissioner.
Deshmukh's statements have come after Param Bir Singh in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray alleged that Anil Deshmukh had asked Sachin Vaze to collect Rs 100 crore every month from bars, hookah parlours, restaurants and other establishments.
Responding to allegations against him, Deshmukh said, "This is a conspiracy hatched by Param Bir Singh to derail the investigation into the explosives case and the suspicious death of Mansukh Hiren. Chief Minister should conduct an impartial inquiry into the allegations made by him."
"Allegations levelled against me by Param Bir Singh are false and conspiracy to defame me and Maha Vikas Aghadi government to defend himself. Why was he quiet for so many days after Sachin Vaze was arrested? Why didn't he speak earlier," Deshmukh asked.
Meanwhile, the BJP has demanded an independent probe into former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh's corruption allegations against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and said such a "criminally-minded" government has no right to continue even for a minute.
After Singh made an explosive allegation that Deshmukh wanted police officers to collect Rs 100 crore per month, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said it is "one of the darkest moments" in Indian democracy when a dispensation duty-bound to protect people has indulged in "government-monitored and controlled extortion racket".
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Bhatia demanded the immediate resignation of Deshmukh and a probe by a central agency or one monitored by a court.
The BJP also asked Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to speak on the issue, and alleged that he ran a "corrupt and criminally-minded government".
Nothing can be more shameful for a government that these allegations, and still Thackeray has not spoken on the matter, Bhatia said. The continuation of such a government amounted to throttling democracy, he said.
Senior IPS officer Singh, who was transferred to the low-key Home Guards earlier this week following the arrest of police officer Sachin Vaze in the case related to the bomb scare near Mukesh Ambani's house, claimed that he was made a scapegoat.
(With inputs from IANS)
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