"Minister Was In Hospital When...": Sharad Pawar On Letter Bomb

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh was ailing and in hospital at the time he had allegedly met police officer Sachin Vaze and discussed an extortion racket, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sahrad Pawar said today. Addressing the media amid a political storm over former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh's corruption allegations against the home minister, Mr Pawar said, "Anil Deshmukh was in hospital from February 5 to 15 and from February 15 to 27, he was in home isolation in Nagpur. Mr Pawar has called for an investigation into the allegations, though he said the final decision is upto Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The Shiv Sena this morning questioned the need for his resignation if the key parties are open to the idea of probing the issue.