NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a fresh FIR against former Home Minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh and a few others for allegedly trying to frame BJP leaders in false cases, officials said on Wednesday.
According to the officials, the CBI has registered the case after a two-year-long Preliminary Enquiry (PE) which was taken up after a pen drive handed over to the then Maharashtra Assembly speaker by Devendra Fadnavis, who was then the leader of the opposition.
Initially, the case was handed over to the CID, which later got transferred to the CBI.
The CBI in its PE has prima facie found that Special Public Prosecutor Pravin Pandit Chavan conspired with one Vijay Bhaskarrao Patil, who acted as complainant, and the then state home minister Deshmukh directed to file a zero FIR on December 9, 2020 at Nimbhora Jalgaon police station related to a two-year-old incident in Pune “to falsely implicate BJP leaders and others to wrest control of the Jalgaon Zilla Maratha Vidya Prasarak Sahakari Samaj Limited (Educational institution),” the CBI alleged in its FIR. “Later, the zero FIR was transferred to Pune and registered on January 5, 2021,” it added.
The CBI also alleged that in furtherance to the criminal conspiracy, special public prosecutor Chavan, Patil and the then DCP Poornima Gaikwad and ACP Sushma Chavan, fabricated the statements of witnesses and evidence to falsely implicate the BJP leaders and other innocent persons.
In the FIR, the CBI has named Deshmukh, Chavan, Patil, Gaikwad and Sushma Chavan as accused.
Meanwhile, reacting to the development, Anil Deshmukh termed the case as “baseless”.
In one of his ‘x’ posts, Deshmukh said, “This conspiracy has started after the sand fell under the feet of Fadnavis after seeing the opinion of the people. I do not begrudge such threats and pressure at all. Unflinchingly I have vowed to fight against this oppression of BJP.”
He further said people should see how low-level and “perverted” mentality dirty politics is being done by Fadnavis in Maharashtra. “In the Lok Sabha elections, the people have given place to this conspiracy leadership, now the people of Maharashtra are waiting for the assembly elections,” he added.