MUMBAI: Former Mumbai police commissioner Parambir Singh dropped a bombshell on Saturday alleging that Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had asked former Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Waze to collect Rs 100 crore each month from bars and illegal rackets in the city of Mumbai.
The senior IPS officer, who was transferred to the low-key Home Guards earlier this week following the arrest of Waze in the case related to the bomb scare near Mukesh Ambani’s house, claimed that he was made a scapegoat.
Refuting the allegations, Deshmukh said Singh was raising the allegations as he feared arrest in the Waze case. In an eight-page letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Singh alleged that Deshmukh used to call police officers to his official residence and give them a "collection target" from bars, restaurants and other establishments. The CM's office has confirmed that it received the letter in the form of email.
"The home minister repeatedly instructed Waze to collect Rs 100 crore each month and even told him that in Mumbai there were about 1,750 bars, restaurants and other establishments. If a sum of Rs 2-3 lakh each was collected them, a monthly collection of Rs 40-50 crore was achievable, while the remaining amount could be collected from other sources," the letter said.
The former Mumbai Police commissioner claimed he had informed about the home minister's "wrongdoings" to NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Singh also claimed that many NCP ministers knew about the home minister’s malpractices.