2-member panel to probe phone tapping allegations in Maharashtra

Maharashtra Home Minister l Deshmukh on Monday ordered a two-member committee to probe into the allegations of phone-tapping during the regime of former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the state. The probe has to be completed in a period of six weeks.

"The inquiry may be conducted by a two-member committee of Shrikant Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Home Deptt, along with Amitesh Kumar, IPS (Joint Commissioner of Intelligence), within a period of 6 weeks, with the liberty to induct officers and technical experts as per the requirements," reads the letter of Maharashtra's Home Ministry.

"The inquiry should cover not only the legal documentation but also take the support of technical experts to decipher if unofficial surveillance has been carried out by tracing the foot-print in the servers of various telecom compes through physical verifications and visits," adds the letter.

In the letter, Deshmukh alleged that he was taking the decision to form a committee after receiving multiple complaints of "misuse of phone tapping by the previous government."

Earlier in January, Fadnavis had said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government could order a probe into it by any agency of its choice.

"Phone tapping of opposition leaders is not a tradition of Maharashtra. Our government never gave such an order. The present state government is free to do any probe by any agency. Even the Shiv Sena leaders were a part of the State Home Ministry then," Fadnavis had told reporters.

( With inputs from ANI )