Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray
Amid a political slugfest over the cruise drugs seizure case of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the Shiv Sena on Tuesday said the BJP acts like it owns central investigation agencies, but it should not forget that in a democracy owners do change.
An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said the allegations of Rs 25 crore demand in the drugs case, in which Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan is an accused, are just the tip of the iceberg. "The owners and their employees should be beware of the consequences," it said.
The question is not about actor Shah Rukh Khan or his son, but it is about the character and honesty of the central investigation agencies. Who is going to find out where Kiran Gosavi, one of the (NCB's) witnesses in the case, is hiding? it said.
Gosavi, who is facing a cheating in Pune, was untraceable after his photos and videos with Aryan Khan went viral on social media following the NCB's raid on the cruise ship off the Mumbai coast earlier this month.
On Monday, Gosavi refuted the extortion claims made by his aide and another witness in the case, Prabhakar Sail, and said he will surrender shortly before the Lucknow police.
The NCB has ordered a vigilance inquiry into the claims made by Sail about of an extortion bid of Rs 25 crore by some agency officials, including its Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, and others for letting off Aryan Khan.
The three ruling parties in Maharashtra - Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress- have repeatedly claimed that central agencies were being used to target the opposition parties.
The editorial in 'Saamana' said, "The BJP acts like it owns the central investigation agencies. It should not forget that in a democracy owners do change. There are proofs for it in history. The party (BJP) should not forget that it is like any other political party. It should also remember that political power comes and goes."
"The BJP was once a party of some principles, sacrifice and nationalism, but we cannot expect the same thing from it in its current form. Even the veterans in the BJP are uncomfortable," the Sena claimed.
It said people have been wondering about the claim of Rs 25 crore demand made in the Aryan Khan case for a few grams of drugs. "How much bribe amount was sought to settle the case of 3,500 kg heroin found at the Adani group-controlled Mundra port in Gujarat? Nobody knew when that case was closed, but the Aryan Khan case is still going on," the Marathi daily said.
It said the law related to drugs use says consumers of such substances should be rehabilitated. They should be punished for their acts, but ensure they do not fall into the same trap again and again. But, in reality, it is not happening, the Sena said.
The present NCB officials were also involved in probing a drugs case related to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput case where a transaction of Rs 4,000 was made from a bank account of actor Rhea Chakraborty, it said. It is not the duty of the NCB to probe a case of Rs 4,000, the editorial said. There is a similar department of the Maharashtra police which deals with drugs cases, but never goes for publicity, it said.
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