Phone tapping case: Questions posed as if to make me co-accused, says Fadnavis

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis whose statement was recorded by Mumbai police in a case of alleged illegal phone tapping and leaking of confidential documents on Sunday claimed the kind of questions asked to him were as if to make him a coaccused in the matterEarlier in the day Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil told reporters that the police notice was issued to Fadnavis ldquonot as an accusedrdquo and that state government does not act in a vindictive manner against anyoneAfter a team of the BKC cyber police recorded Fadnaviss statement for about two hours at his south Mumbai residence the former Maharashtra chief minister told media persons that the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government will not succeed in its motives no matter how much it tries to ldquoframerdquo him in the caseFadnavis said he had raised the issue of ldquomega scamrdquo in transfers of officials on the MVAs watch before the Union home affairs secretary but categorically denied having leaked any detail concerned in public domainHe also alleged that pressure is being exerted on him as he has been raising issues such as the alleged connection between state minister Nawab Malik and fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and the MVAs conspiracy to target its opponentsFadnavis accused the MVA government of ldquosuppressingrdquo the alleged mega scam of transfers of officials for six months before he brought it to the lightThe leader of opposition in the state Assembly said he had submitted details of the alleged scam to Union home secretary but did not make the documents concerned publicldquoHad I not exposed it the mega scam worth crores would have got suppressedrdquo Fadnavis claimedHe said the BKC cyber police had earlier sent him a questionnaire in connection with the case of alleged phone tapping and leaking of confidential documents and he he had responded saying he would answer the sameldquoBut there is a big difference between the questionnaire sent to me earlier and the questions asked to me today The questions asked today were as if I only violated the Official Secrets Actthe questions were not asked in the manner it is asked to a witness The questions were asked to me as if to make me an accused or coaccusedrdquo Fadnavis claimedThe BJP leader said he gave clear answers to the questions posed to him and added that the Whistle Blowers Act should be made applicable to him in the case since he only has brought out the ldquomega scamrdquoThe documents he received were ldquosensitiverdquo contained the names of IPS officers and hence the same were submitted to the Union home affairs secretary who is the competent authority he saidldquoI did not bring the details in public But if the secrecy was violated who did it then Nawab Malik did he shared the same with journalists He should be probedrdquo Fadnavis demandedHe further said that no matter how much the state government tries to frame him in the case it will not succeed in its motiveldquoI will keep digging up the black scams as a very responsible citizen sent the information to the competent authority without going after publicity and without bringing it into the public domain Hence I think the state government wont achieve anything by recording statements or probing merdquo he addedEarlier in the day Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil said that notices were issued to Fadnavis ldquofive to sixrdquo times requesting him to record his statementldquoThere is no need to raise a hue and cry The notice doesnt mean summons The notice was not sent to him as an accused The notice was sent to record the information he had in connection with the issuerdquo the minister said when asked about the BJPs protest against the police notice to FadnavisWalse Patil said earlier also Fadnavis was not called to the police station but only a questionnaire was sent to him in connection with the caseldquoOn March 2 also a questionnaire was sent to him But due to some reasons information was not received from him Hence the police decided to record his statement going to his home I dont think there is anything wrong with itrdquo the NCP leader saidThe minister said the case is almost a yearold and the probe into the matter could not be completed for want of Fadnaviss statementldquoHence a request was made to him to record his statementrdquo he saidThe case was registered against five unidentified persons and statements of 24 people have been recorded till now the minister saidIPS officer Rashmi Shukla is accused of tapping phones of political leaders and senior officials illegally when she was chief of the State Intelligence Department SID Former Maharashtra chief minister Fadnavis had cited a letter purportedly written by her to the then Maharashtra Director General of Police about alleged corruption in transfers in the police departmentThe letter also had details of intercepted phone calls leading to an uproar with leaders of the Shiv Senaled ruling coalition alleging that Shukla tapped phones without permissionFollowing a complaint lodged by the SID a case was registered under the Official Secrets Act at the BKC cyber police station in Mumbai last year against unidentified persons for allegedly illegally tapping phones and leaking confidential documentsBefore the FIR was registered the then Maharashtra chief secretary Sitaram Kunte had alleged in his inquiry report that Shukla had leaked the confidential reportThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever