Mumbai,(Samajweekly) Slamming the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena on Monday said that the IPS officer – who allowed the scam-tainted businessmen, the Wadhawan brothers to hop between two hill-stations – was appointed to the post by former Chief Minister and now Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis.
Terming it as a ‘conspiracy’ which failed, the Sena said it is now clear who could be actually behind the IPS officer and Home Department Principal Secretary (Special) Amitabh Gupta for granting the permission on his letterhead (on April 8).
“There was a plot to sully the name of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and all its achievements in the past four months, but it did not succeed,” the Sena said in an edit in the party publication, ‘Saamana’ on Monday.
After the matter blew up last week, Fadnavis had claimed that “it was not possible for a senior IPS officer on his own to commit such a grave error while knowing the ramifications”.
Amid the Opposition’s clamour for the scalps of Gupta and Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, the latter immediately sent the officer on ‘compulsory leave’ and set up a probe by a senior bureaucrat to be completed in 15 days.
On Sunday, April 12, the brothers – Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan, named in the Yes Bank scam – released a detailed statement through their lawyers claiming they shifted from Khandala (hill-station in Pune) to their ancestral home in Mahabaleshwar (hillstation in Satara) to avoid the scourge of Coronavirus pandemic.
Defending the MVA on the issue, the Saamana edit said that Gupta was appointed to the crucial post since Fadnavis obviously had faith in his efficiency.
“Now, that officer showed special favour to the Wadhawan family and tried to create problems for the state administrationa. It is getting exposed who was actually behind Gupta’s decision to create a crisis for the MVA government,” the edit said.
The ‘Saamana’ pointed out that if the MVA government indeed wanted to favour the Wadhawans and their 21 other family members, “then why should the Satara authorities stop them, send them into government quarantine and seize their (five) vehicles”.
The edit made it clear that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s government makes no distinction between the wealthy, powerful persons or the poor, ordinary persons who are tolerating the lockdown with great difficulties.
“Since the IPS officer comes under the centre’s jurisdiction, let’s see what they do about this. Those in Maharashtra asking who is the real ‘mastermind’ in this episode should ask this question to the central government,” the edit said sharply, even as the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate entered the scene.
Dismissing it as a failed conspiracy, the Saamana said this is no time to play politics as the state government is fully immersed in tackling the Coronavirus pandemic which is raging across the state.
