New Delhi: Former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday handed over some key documents, including the clinching audio tapes related to the transfer-posting racket in Maharashtra, to Union Home Secretary A.K. Bhalla on Tuesday.
“I have requested a CBI probe into the placements racket and the Home Secretary has assured me that after examining the documents, the government would take appropriate action,” the BJP leader told mediapersons outside the North Block, which houses the Home Ministry’s office.
The transcripts and telephonic conversations between top IPS officers in Maharashtra and power brokers, recorded by the Commissioner of State Intelligence, give an insight into how at the behest of powerful people in Maharashtra, key police officers were getting desired postings.
“Besides giving documentary evidence, I also briefed the Union Home Secretary about the flourishing postings racket in the state. I also provided him with whatever additional information I had on the matter,” Fadnavis, the Leader of Opposition in Maharasthra Assembly, said.
Meanwhile, sources said that as the Union Home Ministry is the cadre controlling authority of IPS in the country, it can take notice of the ‘misconduct’ of senior officials and request the country’s premiere anti-corruption agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), to investigate the matter which has snowballed into a huge political controversy.
Revealing the set of documents submitted to the Home Secretary, Fadnavis said that they contain the initial findings, transcripts of phone conversations, and the report of the Commissioner of State Intelligence, Rashmi Shukla, on the transfer-posting racket.
“This report was submitted to the state government on August 25, 2020, but it is still under wraps. Why no action has been taken on it till now? Why did the government not take action against the officials and people whose conversations were recorded? After taking note of the report, the then DGP had recommended a CID probe into the matter. But why the CID probe was not initiated ? We want to know who were the people whom the government wanted to shield. All these questions beg for an answer and I hope the Union Home Secretary would take appropriate action,” Fadnavis added.
On the authenticity of telephone conversations between key officials and power brokers, Fadnavis informed that the recordings were made after seeking due approvals.
“I am aware that the then DGP had forwarded the report to the Additional Chief Secretary of Maharashtra… And I have specific information that Chief Minister (Uddhav Thackeray) had also gone through the report as well the recordings. But the CM is silent on the matter and has not given any reaction on this report which is based on solid evidence,” Fadnavis said.
Rashmi Shukla, who had initially enquired into the postings racket, had stated in her letter dated August 25, 2020 that a network of brokers having political connections had emerged in Mumbai. The brokers were engaged in arranging desired postings for police officers in exchange of monetary gains, Shukla had written in her two-page letter addressed to the DGP of Maharashtra, Subodh Kumar Jaiswal.
