MUMBAI: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has said recent controversies, including the suicides of Puja Chavan and MP Mohan Delkar and the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran followed by police officer Sachin Waze’s arrest have affected Maharashtra’s “dignity”. Writing in the party’s mouthpiece Saamna under a headline which said, “Is someone trying to use Ambani as a shield?”, he alluded to conspiracies against the state government.
Speaking to the media on Sunday, Raut also criticised the NIA’s action in taking over the probe into the death of Hiran and the explosives-laden vehicle found near the Ambani residence. He said it amounted to demoralising Mumbai Police and creating instability in Maharashtra. “They (Mumbai Police) are capable and professional. They can’t be pressured,” he said. Defending Waze in the same breath, the Rajya Sabha MP described him as an “honest, successful officer and a good investigator”.
However, some of Raut’s comments in the Saamna piece seemed at odds with his defence of Waze. Hunger for “easy money” has lowered standards of morality in the police department, he wrote. “It’s no longer surprising that the police indulge in corruption, extortion and protection money. People have accepted the fact that this is how the police force functions across the country. However, the nation will be in grave peril if policemen indulge in violence and try to strike a pot of gold in drug trafficking and rampant extortion… police cook up a case and get some big names implicated in it and extort money,” said the piece.
That a suspicious vehicle should be found parked near Ambani’s residence is nearly impossible given the stringent security offered to the tycoon, observed Raut and expressed doubt if there was a deliberate breach of security at Ambani’s residence so that the car could be parked in the vicinity.
Without elaborating, he said a clique which does not belong to the police force but wields controls over the Mumbai-Thane unit could have scripted the Hiran-Waze episode.
That the police and the state administration should provide every bit of information to leader of the Opposition and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis during the recently concluded state assembly session does not augur well for the government, Raut said.
He heaped praise on Fadnavis for his speech on the floor of the state assembly last week, piecing together the Hiran murder story with factual details. However, Raut accused BJP of exerting pressure on the state administration in the matter. This demoralises the police force, he said.
The Saamna article is an indication of the turmoil and consternation within the Maha Vikas Aghadi regime over l’affaire Waze. The Sena, at loggerheads with the Centre since Matoshree severed ties with BJP and teamed up with NCP and Congress to form MVA in the state, is struggling to contain the political fallout of the episode.
The case has taken a crucial turn with Waze’s arrest. The body of Hiran, who was reportedly in possession of the explosives-laden car found near the Ambani residence, was found in the Mumbra creek. Hiran’s wife has accused Waze of killing her husband. To a question on sections under which Waze has been charged, Raut said, “There is a difference between charges being levelled and the charges being proved.” He said, “The state government’s prestige is at stake in this case.”