Ashish Shelar said all phone calls made by Anil Parab and involved IPS officials should be probed. (File)
Maharashtra BJP legislator Ashish Shelar on Wednesday demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged involvement of Shiv Sena leader and state minister Anil Parab in the arrest of Union minister Narayan Rane. Mr Shelar made the demand while speaking to reporters in Mumbai.
Mr Rane was arrested on Tuesday afternoon for his remark made during the "Jan Ashirwad Yatra" of his party the previous day that he would have slapped Uddhav Thackeray over the latter's "ignorance" of the year of India's independence.
After his arrest, Mr Rane was taken to Mahad in Raigad district, 165 km from Mumbai, where an FIR was registered against him over the remark. He was granted bail by a court at Mahad on late Tuesday night.
"BJP demands a CBI inquiry into the alleged involvement of state Transport Minister Anil Parab in the arrest of (Mr) Rane as the Sena leader was heard telling someone that the Union minister's bail plea is going to be rejected. All the phone calls made by (Mr) Parab and IPS officials involved into it should be probed," he said.
"There is a video clip of (Mr) Parab talking to someone on Tuesday around 1 pm over phone informing that the sessions court is going to reject the bail plea of (Mr) Rane. The application was rejected around 4 pm, but (Mr) Parab had informed the person on the other side much before it. This is suspicious and raises questions over state's intentions," he said.
The video clip was from Ratnagiri District Planning and Development Council (DPDC) meeting chaired by Mr Parab, who is its guardian minister, Mr Shelar added.
"Parab's action is an insult of the state judiciary as well as an act of pressuring IPS officials...The state home ministry is with the NCP and that party's chief Sharad Pawar had talked about the complaints a few months back that the Sena leader was interfering into the home ministry," he claimed.
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