Former MP Sanjay Nirupam
Congress must take a stand on former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh's claim that Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh wanted police officers to collect Rs 100 crore monthly from bars and hotels, former MP Sanjay Nirupam has said.
"If at all, whatever Parambir Singh is saying is truth, the question should be asked from Hon Sharad Pawar ji because he is the architect of the current Maharashtra Govt. Is it what the so-called third front is going to do finally?
Congress must take a stand on this issue," he tweeted.
The demand by Nirupam came even as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) state government, comprising Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, is reeling under the impact of the "letter bomb" by the serving IPS officer.
A former Shiv Sena leader, Nirupam joined the Congress in 2005.
In the eight-page letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Singh alleged that Deshmukh used to call police officers to his official residence and give them a "collection target" from bars, restaurants and other establishments.
The Chief Minister's Office, in a late night release, said Singh's "unsigned letter to Thackeray" was not sent from his official email ID and efforts were on to contact him to verify it.
Ending the speculation, Singh later confirmed that he indeed emailed the letter, a signed copy of which will reach the government shortly.
The IPS officer claimed that the minister told Waze that he had set a target of collecting Rs 100 crore a month, half of it from nearly 1,750 bars, restaurants and similar establishments operating in the city.
Singh also claimed that Deshmukh "from day one" wanted a case of abetment of suicide to be registered in Mumbai after the death of Dadra and Nagar Haveli MP Mohan Delkar in a Mumbai hotel last month.
Sources in the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress state government said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar are yet to take a call on replacing the home minister in the backdrop of the latest controversy.
BJP leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis sought Deshmukh's resignation over the claims made by the IPS officer.
"We demand the home minister's resignation. If he doesn't, then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray must remove him.
An impartial probe must be conducted. The letter also says the chief minister was informed about this earlier, so why didn't he act on it?" said Fadnavis, Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly.
