Congress must take a stand on the allegations of corruptions made by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, former party MP Sanjay Nirupam has said.
"If at all, whatever Parambir Singh is saying is truth, question should be asked from Hon Sharad Pawar ji because he is the arcitect of current Maharashtra Government. 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 Mr 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, Mr Nirupam joined the Congress in 2005.
In the eight-page letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Mr Singh - who has been replaced as Mumbai Police Commissioner over "unforgivable" lapses in the Mukesh Ambani security scare probe this week - alleged that Anil Deshmukh used to call police officers to his official residence and give them a "collection target" from bars, restaurants and other establishments. The Home Minister "had a target to accumulate ₹ 100 crore a month", the Indian Police Service officer alleged.
The Chief Minister's Office, in a late night release, said Mr Singh's "unsigned letter to Thackeray" was not sent from his official email ID and efforts were on to contact him to verify it.
Param Bir Singh, was transferred to the Home Guard in a fallout of the investigation against police officer Sachin Waze, has also claimed that Mr 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.
The explosive accusations prompted calls by the opposition for the resignation of Mr Deshmukh who denied the charges and said he will sue Mr Singh for defamation.
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.
With additional inputs from PTI
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