Anil Deshmukh will not step down unless allegations are proved, says Nawab Malik

Amid Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders demanding state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh's resignation over former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh allegations against him, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik on Monday said that the Deshmukh will not step down unless the allegations against him are proved in an investigation.

Amid Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders demanding state Home Minister l Deshmukh's resignation over former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh allegations against him, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik on Monday said that the Deshmukh will not step down unless the allegations against him are proved in an investigation.

Nawab Malik told , "Param Bir Singh's letter raises some questions as it was written after transfer. There is no doubt that a probe will be launched into the allegation."

He said that the letter is under a shadow of doubt because the Home Minister was in isolation due to him being COVID-19 positive on the dates mentioned in the letter in which the alleged meeting between the Home Minister and Param Bir Singh happened.

"In the letter, he mentioned that he met Home Minister, but the Home Minister was on a Vidarbha tour from February 1 to 5. He tested covid positive on February 15 and not until February 28 did he meet anyone. All these questions raise doubts about the letter," Malik said.

"There is no question of resignation on the basis of a letter. Party will take a call only after the probe. Action will be taken on the basis of facts revealed in the investigation," he said.

"We know the meetings Param Bir Singh had in Delhi. The truth will come out after the investigation," he added.

On Ravi Shankar Prasad's demand for resignation of the Chief Minister, he said "Prasad is talking about high morality. Gujarat should not be forgotten. When Gujarat Home Minister, Chief Minister were under probe, did they give resignation?"

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh on Saturday wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray alleging that Deshmukh had indulged in "malpractices" and asked suspended API Sachin Waze to collect Rs 100 crore every month.

The allegations made by Param Bir Singh came a day after Deshmukh had said that Singh was moved out as Mumbai Police Commissioner so that cases pertaining to Waze were probed without obstruction.

In the letter, Singh, who has now been posted as Commandant General of Home Guards, had said that he has been "made a scapegoat to divert attention from the actual wrongdoers".

He had alleged that Sachin Waze, who was heading the Crime Intelligence Unit of the Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police, was called by Deshmukh to his official residence several times in the last few months and "repeatedly instructed to assist in the collection of funds".

Waze, Assistant Police Inspector in the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU), who was transferred to the Citizen Facilitation Centre at Mumbai Police Headquarters after his name came up in Mansukh Hiren death case, has been sent to the NIA custody till March 25, in connection with his alleged role and involvement in placing an explosives-laden vehicle.

( With inputs from ANI )