Anil Deshmukh asked Waze to change statements, alleges Param Bir Singh

NCP leader Anil Deshmukh asked Sachin Waze to retract, while deposing before an inquiry commission, his statements recorded earlier by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), IPS officer Param Bir Singh has claimed.

Waze was also being pressurized in prison to change his statements, Singh, a former Mumbai police commissioner, has alleged. Singh made the allegations in his statement to the ED which is part of the charge sheet filed by the agency against Deshmukh, a former Maharashtra home minister, last month.

Waze, who was dismissed from the police force in 2021, denied before the inquiry commission last December that he had made any payments to Deshmukh. He also denied collecting money from bars and restaurants in Mumbai at Deshmukh's behest.

The Justice (retd) K U Chandiwal commission is probing corruption allegations leveled against Deshmukh by Param Bir Singh. The CBI and ED are conducting separate probes against Deshmukh who is now in judicial custody. In his statement to the ED, Singh said, "I learned from sources that Anil Deshmukh met Sachin Waze at (the office of) Chandiwal commission on November 30, 2021, and pleaded with him to withdraw his statement given to Enforcement Directorate."

Singh was apparently referring to a meeting between Waze and Deshmukh in the building where the commission is conducting its hearings. The meeting had caused controversy as Waze was under judicial custody. Singh further said in the ED statement that he had "learnt" that Waze was being pressurized in jail and "is being strip-searched and abused on daily basis for the same." A deputy commissioner of police from Thane met Waze and pressurized him, Singh alleged. Waze, then an assistant inspector, was arrested in March 2021 following the discovery of an SUV with explosives near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's south Mumbai residence 'Antilia' and subsequent death of Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran. In its aftermath, Singh, now suspended, was transferred from the post of Mumbai police commissioner.

He then accused Deshmukh of corruption, who had to step down as minister. In his statement before the ED, Waze had alleged that after becoming home minister, Deshmukh asked him to collect money from bar and hotel owners.