The Maharashtra Home Department has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe allegations that the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government planned to falsely implicate and arrest then-Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde.
Senior cabinet minister Shambhuraje Desai announced the formation of the SIT in the Assembly on Tuesday, stating that a senior IPS officer would lead the investigation.
The decision followed claims by businessman Sanjay Punamiya, who alleged that sting operations aired by the media featured a former police officer stating in a phone conversation that the then-Mumbai Police Commissioner was preparing to arrest Fadnavis and Shinde. Punamiya also asserted that the arrests were to be linked to a case against him.
The SIT, headed by Mumbai’s Joint Commissioner of Police (Law & Order) Satyanarayan Chaudhary, has been directed to submit its report within 30 days.
BJP MLC Pravin Darekar called for an SIT probe into the alleged conspiracy and submitted a pen drive to the legislative council, claiming it contained sting operation footage exposing the plot.
He further alleged that in another video, ACP Sardar Patil was heard discussing the reopening of an old case, revealing that its true objective was to target Fadnavis and Shinde.
At the time, Eknath Shinde served as a cabinet minister in the MVA government. Darekar also called for action against DCP Patil and former advocate general Shekhar Jagtap, alleging that then-Mumbai police chief Sanjay Pandey was specifically tasked with arresting Fadnavis.
