News Analysis India

Tag: Sachin Waze

  • Allegations against Deshmukh ‘vindictive act’ of Param Bir: Builder claims before probe panel

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The allegations of corruption levelled against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh are “baseless” and a “vindictive act” of senior IPS officer Param Bir Singh, a Mumbai-based builder claimed in his affidavit submitted before an inquiry commission on Wednesday.

    The builder, Bimal Agarwal, who had filed an extortion case against Singh and dismissed police officer Sachin Waze, submitted a 26-page affidavit before the one-member commission of Justice (retd) Kailash Uttamchand Chandiwal.

    The Maharashtra government in March this year formed the commission to conduct a probe into corruption allegations levelled by Singh against the then state home minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh.

    ALSO READ | Param Bir Singh fined Rs 25,000 for not appearing before probe panel

    In his affidavit, the builder described the manner in which Waze extorted money from him, allegedly at the behest of Singh.

    “The entire episode of writing a letter with baseless allegations and attacking Deshmukh as well as the state government is the vindictive act of Singh and Waze,” Agarwal said in the affidavit.

    He also urged the commission to dismiss all the allegations made in the letter (written by Param Bir Singh to the state chief minister) “in the interest of justice”, and recommend relevant action against Singh, Waze and others.

    The next hearing into the matter before the inquiry commission will be on August 30.

    Based on a complaint filed by the 48-year-old builder, the Goregaon police here last week registered an FIR against Param Bir Singh.

    This is the fourth such case against Singh and second in Mumbai.

    Two other cases were filed in Thane city.

    All these FIRs were registered within a span of one month.

    In this case, Waze and four others – Sumit Singh alias Chintu, Alpesh Patel, Vinay Singh alias Babloo and Riyaz Bhati – have also been named as accused, according to police.

    ​ALSO READ | Fourth extortion case filed against Mumbai ex-Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh in a month

    As per Agarwal’s complaint, the accused extorted Rs 9 lakh from him for not conducting a raid on two bars and restaurants, which he ran in partnership, and also forced him to buy two smartphones worth around Rs 2.92 lakh for them.

    The incident occurred between January 2020 and March 2021.

    Accordingly, the case was filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 384 and 385 (both pertaining to extortion) 34 (common intention) against the six accused and a probe into the case is on.

    Singh is currently posted as DG Home Guards and he has not been attending office since May as he is on sick leave.

    He was shunted out as Mumbai police commissioner in March this year after the arrest of Sachin Waze in the case of an explosives-laden vehicle found near the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani in Mumbai.

    Later, Singh claimed in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that Deshmukh used to ask police officers to collect money from restaurant and bar owners in Mumbai.

    Deshmukh, who resigned from the post of state home minister in April this year, has repeatedly denied the allegations levelled against him.

  • Court denies bail to Sachin Waze, gives NIA another month to file charge sheet

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: A special court here on Thursday rejected dismissed police officer Sachin Waze’s plea for ‘default’ bail in the case of the SUV with explosives found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence, and gave the NIA one more month to file a charge sheet.

    On June 9, the court had granted an extension of two months to the National Investigation Agency to submit its charge sheet.

    The central agency later sought another extension, saying the investigation was still underway.

    Court denies bail to Sachin Waze, gives NIA another month to file charge sheetWaze had sought bail on the ground that the probe agency failed to file the charge sheet within the stipulated time so he was entitled to be released.

    ALSO READ | CBI can inquire into transfer postings of police, reinstatement of Sachin Waze: Bombay HC 

    He was arrested in the case on March 13, 2021, following the death of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran who had claimed that the SUV found near Ambani’s south Mumbai residence on February 25 had been stolen from his possession.

    But the special NIA court rejected Waze’s plea saying it had no merit.

    The court had rejected his similar ‘default’ bail application in June too.

    Besides Waze, former ‘encounter specialist’ police officer Pradeep Sharma and a few other former policemen are accused in the case.

  • CBI can inquire into transfer postings of police, reinstatement of Sachin Waze: Bombay HC 

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday said the CBI can inquire into the transfer and postings of police personnel and the reinstatement of Sachin Waze in the police force, over its nexus with Maharashtra’s former home minister Anil Deshmukh and his associates.

    A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar dismissed a petition filed by the Maharashtra government seeking for two paragraphs from the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) FIR against Deshmukh to be set aside.

    While one paragraph is about allegations levelled against NCP leader Deshmukh by Sachin Waze, who has been dismissed from police service after his arrest in the Antilia bomb scare case, the second paragraph pertains to corruption in transfers and postings of police officials.

    “The investigating agency (CBI) in our view can legitimately carry on its inquiry into the transfer and postings of police personnel and the reinstatement of Sachin Waze in the police force after 15 years, so far as this has a nexus with the former home minister (Deshmukh) and his associates,” the court said.

    The CBI on April 21 this year registered an FIR against Deshmukh on alleged charges of corruption and misuse of official position.

    The FIR was lodged after the agency conducted a preliminary enquiry against the NCP leader following an order from the HC on April 5.

    Deshmukh had resigned as the state home minister after the HC directed the CBI to conduct a probe into the allegations of corruption and misconduct levelled against him.

    The NCP leader has denied any wrongdoing.

  • Antilia bomb scare-Hiran murder case: Sachin Waze seeks default bail

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Dismissed policeman Sachin Waze, an accused in the Antilia bomb scare-Mansukh Hiran murder case, has moved a default bail plea in a special court here citing failure on the part of the National Investigation Agency to file a charge sheet within the stipulated time.

    Waze, who was arrested in March, had recently moved an application seeking bail claiming the NIA had failed to submit a charge sheet within 60 days.

    The special court had, on June 9, granted two more months to NIA to file a charge sheet.

    Waze has questioned the extension granted to the NIA and the court has kept the matter for hearing on July 22.

    An explosives-laden SUV was found near the south Mumbai home of industrialist Mukesh Ambani on February 25 and Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran, who had claimed that he was in possession of the vehicle, was found dead in a creek on March 5.

  • Can Mumbai cops behind reinstating Waze claim impunity? HC to CBI on Anil Deshmukh’s plea

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Monday asked if Mumbai Police officers, who were behind the reinstatement of former assistant police inspector Sachin Waze in the service, could claim impunity on the ground that they were unaware of his past records and antecedents.

    A bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar said that if one were to get into the “root” of the allegations of corruption made against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, one would prima facie see that Waze had been collecting the extortion money that Deshmukh allegedly asked him to.

    “However, who was behind reinstating Waze into the city police force, the bench asked? “Can they say they didn’t know about his past?” the bench asked.

    The bench posed the question to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducting an inquiry against Deshmukh following allegations of corruption levelled against him by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

    The bench said it was saying, “at the cost of repetition,” that the CBI must not exclude any guilty party out of its probe.

    “At the cost of repeating, we are saying that the investigation must be against all involved. The normal way is that as long as things are going well, no one says anything. Once a transfer happens, all sorts of allegations are made,” the bench said.

    “If we get into the root of this matter, Waze was collecting money. So who was behind his reinstatement? Can someone now say that he was not aware of Waze’s past, his record etc. (while reinstating him)? That is why we are saying again and again that this episode was not a one-man thing. The crux of the HC order (directing a preliminary inquiry into the allegations) is to instil public confidence,” the HC said.

    The high court’s observations came while it was hearing a plea filed by Deshmukh seeking that the FIR registered by the CBI against him be quashed.

    He had denied the allegations against him.

    Deshmukh’s counsel, senior advocate Amit Desai had said that the CBI probe was illegal since the agency had failed to take prior sanction to prosecute Deshmukh, who was at the time a public servant.

    Appearing for the CBI, Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi told the high court that no sanction was required as Deshmukh hadn’t been discharging his official duties by indulging in corruption and misconduct.

    Lekhi said the CBI probe didn’t warrant any interference from the court.

    “The home minister (Deshmukh) gave a target to collect money to Waze. It’s not a minister’s job to give targets to police officers. This case is of maladministration and misgovernance,” Lekhi said.

    “The minister was asking officers to conduct financial deals not mandated by the statute. This was outside of the realm of what a minister can do. A minister’s work can’t be lacking in legitimacy and be illicit. Since it was so in this case, such acts can’t be said to have been performed in the discharge of his official duties,” he said.

    Besides, the provision to seek prior sanction under the Prevention of Corruption Act was not meant to protect wrongdoers, Lekhi said.

    He further said that “no one” was outside the purview of the CBI’s probe.

    The HC then asked what prevented the seniormost police officer in the state (ParamBir Singh) from initiating an inquiry against Deshmukh as soon as he got to know of the former minister’s alleged misconduct?

    “Was is not the duty of the then CP to have registered an FIR? Was it then not the duty of the top police officer to immediately register a case? We expect a practical investigation against all (parties involved). Why was the highest officer not investigating when informed. He could himself have registered the FIR,” it said.

    The court also asked the CBI for a copy of its probe report in the case.

    It said it will return the report in a sealed envelope to the central agency after going through the same.

    The HC closed all arguments on Deshmukh’s plea on Monday and reserved its verdict on the same.

    Waze was reinstated last June after being under suspension for over 16 years for his alleged role in the Khwaja Yunus custodial death case.

    In April this year, a bench led by Bombay HC chief justice Dipankar Datta had directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry against Deshmukh based on a complaint lodged at the Malabar Hill police station in the city, by lawyer Jaishri Patil.

    In her complaint seeking a probe against both Deshmukh and Param Bir Singh, Patil had also attached a copy of the letter written by Singh to the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray making allegations against Deshmukh.

    The CBI subsequently registered an FIR against Deshmukh on charges of corruption.

    The agency said in its FIR that Deshmukh had had the knowledge of the reinstatement of former assistant police inspector Sachin Waze, and that he exercised undue interference in the transfers and postings of state police officers.

    Waze, arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the recovery of an explosives-laden SUV from outside the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani in south Mumbai and the subsequent murder of Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran, was later sacked from the service.

  • Anil Deshmukh case: CBI records statement of dismissed Mumbai cop Sachin Waze in prison

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has recorded the statement of dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze, who is lodged in a jail, in connection with its probe into the corruption charges against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, an official said on Friday.

    Waze was quizzed at the Taloja Central Prison in Navi Mumbai by a team of the CBI which is probing the corruption charges against Deshmukh on direction of the Bombay High Court, the official said.

    The questioning took place on Wednesday and Thursday, he said.

    Last week, a special court had allowed the CBI to quiz Waze.

    Earlier, the central agency had interrogated the former encounter cop and recorded his statement in April.

    Waze was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his alleged role in recovery of an explosives-laden car from outside the south Mumbai residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani and subsequent murder of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran, the owner of the vehicle.

    Following the HC direction, the CBI had registered an FIR in April against Deshmukh and others after a preliminary enquiry in connection with the allegations of corruption and misconduct levelled by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.

    Deshmukh, an NCP leader, had resigned from the state cabinet after the HC order.

    Waze had claimed he was asked to collect money from bar and restaurant owners allegedly on instructions of Deshmukh, who has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.

  • NIA court allows ED to record Sachin Waze’s statement in money laundering case against Anil Deshmukh

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) obtained National Investigation Agency (NIA) court’s permission to record suspended Mumbai Police Officer Sachin Waze’s statement in a money laundering case against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh at Taloja prison tomorrow.

    ED officers have confirmed that a team will visit Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai to record Waze’s statement tomorrow.

    The probe agency had earlier informed the court that various bar owners were called by it for a statement and they had categorically said that they paid Rs 40 lakh to Sachin Waze as Good luck Money in December 2020 when Waze was Crime Investigation Unit (CIU) head.

    ED had told the court that the bar owners paid Rs 1.64 crore and Rs 2.66 crore to Mumbai Police’s Zone 1 to 7 and Zone 8 to 12.

    “Sachin Waze told bar owners that money will go to so and so. Sachin Waze has also accepted that he has collected Rs 4.77 crore between December 2020 and February 2021 and handed over the money to Kundan Shinde. Two police officers’ statements were recorded and they said that Palande was also given money. Sachin Waze also verified this statement of police officers about Palande,” ED’s lawyer had told the court.

    The case against the former Home Minister was registered on May 11.

    NIA arrested Waze in March in connection with the investigation into the recovery of explosives from a car parked near Mukesh Ambani’s house in Mumbai.

    Waze is the prime accused in placing an explosives-laden vehicle near Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s house Antilia in Mumbai on February 25.

    Waze was also accused of the murder of Mansukh Hiren, the owner of the vehicle that was found containing explosives materials outside Antilia.Hiren was found dead on March 5 in Thane.

    Waze, former Assistant Police Inspector in the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU), was later transferred to the Citizen Facilitation Centre at Mumbai Police Headquarters after his name came up in Mansukh Hiren’s death case.

    Waze was dismissed from service in May 2021. 

  • NIA court allows Enforcement Directorate to quiz Sachin Waze in Anil Deshmukh case

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: A special court here on Thursday allowed the Enforcement Directorate to question dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze in an alleged money-laundering case registered against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh.

    Waze was arrested by the National Investigation Agency in March in the case of explosives-laden SUV found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence in south Mumbai, and the subsequent murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran.

    He is now in judicial custody.

    The ED has been allowed to question Waze for three days at Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai where he is lodged, a defence lawyer said.

    The ED has so far arrested two aides of Deshmukh — his personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde — in the money-laundering case against the NCP leader.

    The central agency claimed that the arrested duo confessed that Waze had collected Rs 4.70 crore from orchestra bar owners in Mumbai and handed it to Shinde in two installments.

    While seeking permission from the special NIA court to quiz Waze, the ED said it wanted to confront Palande and Shinde with the former assistant police inspector of the crime branch.

    IPS officer Param Bir Singh, after he was removed from the post of Mumbai police commissioner in the aftermath of Waze’s arrest, had alleged in a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray that Deshmukh, then home minister, had asked Waze to collect over Rs 100 crore per month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai.

    Deshmukh denied the charge.

    The ED case followed after the CBI registered a case against Deshmukh on the orders of the Bombay High Court under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

  • Sachin Waze collected Rs 4.7-crore from bar owners, handed over to Anil Deshmukh aide: ED

    Waze informed the bar owners and managers that this money quot;will go to No.1 and crime branch and social service branch of Mumbai Police quot;.

  • Two days before raids on Deshmukh, ED recorded statement of sacked cop Waze in jail

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has recorded the statement of dismissed Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Waze in connection with a money laundering case filed against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, an official said on Friday.

    A two-member team of the ED recorded the statement of Waze at the Taloja Central Prison in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday (June 23), the official said.

    Waze is lodged in the jail under judicial custody after arrest in the sensational Antilia security scare-Mansukh Hiran murder case.

    The state prison department had given access to ED officials to record Waze’s statement in the jail, he said.

    Two days after questioning Waze, the ED on Friday conducted searches at the premises of Deshmukh and his associates in Nagpur and Mumbai as part of a money laundering probe against the politician on Rs 100 crore bribery charges, officials said in Delhi.

    The ED is probing the PMLA case based on an FIR registered by the CBI against the NCP leader, who faces allegations of corruption and misconduct.

    The FIR was registered following a Bombay High Court order in April after corruption allegations were levelled against Deshmukh by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

    In his letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray after he was removed from the Police Commissioner’s post, Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had asked Waze and other police officials to extort over Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants of Mumbai.

    Deshmukh, who resigned from the state cabinet after the HC order, has repeatedly denied Singh’s allegations.

    “Singh levelled false allegations against me after he was shunted out (from the post of Mumbai police chief in March). The CBI investigating the case and I will cooperate,” the NCP leader said on Friday.

    The ED case came about after the CBI first carried out a preliminary enquiry followed by filing a regular case on the orders of the High Court that asked it to look into the allegations of bribery made against Deshmukh by Singh.

    Officials said the search teams are looking for additional evidence that can be important for their probe.

    The teams are trying to gather evidence and record statements to substantiate the claims made by about 10 bar owners to the ED that they paid about Rs 4 crore “bribe” in cash that was allegedly handed over to the former home minister, the said.

    Deshmukh said he extended full cooperation to ED officials who visited him during the searches and hoped “the truth will come out”.

    The ED conducted searches at the premises linked to Deshmukh in Nagpur and his associates in Mumbai as part of a money laundering probe against the politician on Rs 100 crore bribery charges, officials said.

    They said the raids were carried out under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the locations include Deshmukh’s residence at GPO Chowk in Nagpur and that of his personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde in Mumbai.

    Palande was brought to the ED’s office in Mumbai in the afternoon for inquiry in connection with the case, sources said.

    Talking to reporters in Mumbai, Deshmukh said he would continue to cooperate with investigate agencies in future too and expressed confidence that “the truth will come out”.

    Deshmukh claimed former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh had levelled false allegations of corruption and misconduct against him after his removal from the post in March.

    “Singh was removed from the post due to his suspicious role in placing an explosives-laden SUV outside Mukesh Ambani residence. All the five police officials from the CIU (crime intelligence unit) arrested in the case reported to Param Bir Singh directly. The NIA is investigating the case,” the NCP leader said.

    “Singh levelled false allegations against me after he was shunted out. The CBI is investigating the case and I will cooperate,” he said.

    Deshmukh came to his flat in ‘Sukhada’ building at Worli in Central Mumbai when ED searches were on, sources said.

    He was present the flat with ED officials and a team of forensic experts, the sources said.

    The ED had registered a criminal case under the PMLA against Deshmukh and others last month after studying a CBI FIR.

    The ED case came about after the CBI first carried out a preliminary enquiry followed by filing a regular case on the orders of the HC that asked it to look into the allegations of bribery made against Deshmukh by Singh.

    The NCP, which is part of the Shiv Sena-led ruling alliance in Maharashtra, said nothing has come out against Deshmukh so far.

    There was an attempt to harass Deshmukh out of “frustration” as the investigation against him and his family has not revealed anything, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said.

    “Earlier some (Central) agencies had showered loving attention on the businesses of his son. As far as I know, they did not find anything. So out of frustration, there is an attempt to see if he (Anil Deshmukh) can be harassed in any other way,” Pawar told reporters in Pune.

    The NCP president said such things are not happening for the first time.

    “All these things are not new to us. Anil Deshmukh is not the first (to face such action). A new trend of using power has been shown by those who are in power. There is no need to talk about that issue anymore. We are not at all worried about it,” Pawar said.

    An ED team of five officers, including a woman, arrived Deshmukh’s residence at GPO square in Civil Lines in Nagpur at 8 am with a team of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), police officials said.

    Searches at the residence lasted for almost nine hours.

    Deshmukh’s wife son Salil and and wife of their younger son Hrishikesh were present at the Nagpur residence, they said.

    Local NCP workers, led by Nagpur city unit chief Duneshwar Pethe, staged a protest against the ED action at 12 noon near the residence of Deshmukh.

    They were put into a van and taken to a police station.

    Later, another group of NCP workers from Nagpur Rural, led by former ZP vice-president Chandrashekhar Chikhale, protested against the ED at Deshmukh’s residence.

    The workers raised slogans when the ED team was going back after concluding their searches.

    Meanwhile, the BJP said investigation against Deshmukh was going on as per a HC order and rejected suggestions that ED searches at his premises were politically motivated.

    The opposition party in the state also hit out at its former ally Shiv Sena, heading the ruling coalition in Maharashtra, for linking the ED action against the NCP leader with the BJP.

    BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said it was wrong to attribute political motive to the ED action against the former home minister.

    Fadnavis, speaking to the media at the Nagpur airport, said, “All these inquiries are going on as per direction of the high court. There is no reason to find any political motive in them. We feel that agencies are working as directed by the HC.”

    Asked about NCP MP Supriya Sule’s comments linking the ED searches to Emergency, Fadnavis said she has no experience of the 1975-77 era characterised by press censorship and suspension of civil liberties.

    “Supriya Sule has not seen Emergency as she was a child at that time. even I was a child. She has not experienced Emergency. but we have experienced Emergency.

    “My father was in jail for 21 months without any charge, there were several others like him, lakhs of people. George Fernandes (socialist leader and former Union minister) had to sleep on ice slab. What do you know about Emergency? It is wrong to link a HC-directed investigation with Emergency,” the former CM said.

    In Mumbai, another BJP leader, Pravin Darekar, hit out at Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut for linking ED raids on Deshmukh with the BJP.

    The Leader of Opposition in the council said if Deshmukh has not done anything wrong, he should not be afraid.

    In a statement issued to the media, Darekar said, “Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut is wrongly suggesting that the ED searches were carried out on orders of the BJP. If Anil Deshmukh has done nothing (wrong), he should not be afraid.

    “CBI officials carried out a raid on April 21 at the house of Anil Deshmukh in Nagpur. As he is under investigation, the ED also carried out raids at his residence in Mumbai. The more you try to politicise such routine procedures, the more Deshmukh and the MVA government would come under suspicion,” he said.

    The ED and other investigating agencies have carried out raids in the past as well, but nobody then linked those raids with the then government, Darekar said.