Following allegations by the then Commissioner of Police, Param Bir Singh, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took action against the then Home Minister, Anil Deshmukh, leading to his imprisonment. After serving 13 months in jail, Deshmukh has been released on bail. Deshmukh now claims that his imprisonment was part of a conspiracy orchestrated by Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The case has once again brought Fadnavis into the spotlight following recent comments by Professor Shyam Manav, the coordinator of the All-India Anti-Superstition Committee.
Param Bir Singh had accused Deshmukh of extorting Rs 100 crore. At that time, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was in power, and Anil Deshmukh was the Home Minister. Deshmukh alleges that Fadnavis pressured him to sign affidavits against then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, his son and then Minister Aaditya Thackeray, Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab, and then Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. This pressure, Deshmukh claims, was to free him from Singh's accusations and to avoid arrest by central investigative agencies.
In response, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had warned, "I have clips of what he said about Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray. If necessary, I will release them." Today, Anil Deshmukh has openly challenged Fadnavis again, stating, "Three years ago, Fadnavis sent a special person to my official residence with four affidavits.
The first affidavit alleged that Uddhav Thackeray had asked me for money for the municipal elections. The second contained serious accusations against Aaditya Thackeray regarding the Disha Salian case. The third affidavit had allegations against Anil Parab, and the fourth claimed that Ajit Pawar instructed me to extort money from gutkha traders.
I was told to sign these affidavits and make a statement to the investigating agencies in exchange for relief from Param Bir Singh's accusations. I have evidence of this incident on a pen drive. I do not speak without proof. Fadnavis does not have any such clips. I know this, but he is making such statements to defend himself weakly. Still, if he has any clips, he should present them to the public. This is my open challenge to him."