Attempt being made to mislead people: Deshmukh on association with Waze

Amid the controversy over suspended Mumbai Police ASI Sachin Waze, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said an attempt is being made to mislead people by disseminating wrong information about him

Amid the controversy over suspended Mumbai Police ASI Sachin Waze, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Tuesday said an attempt is being made to mislead people by disseminating wrong information about him.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader shared a video message on social media on Tuesday.

"There has been much misinformation about me being propagated in the electronic and print media for the last few days. You all know that during the last one year amid the COVID-19 situation, I went around the state and met the policemen and encouraged them. I tested positive for COVID-19 on February 5. I was hospitalised from February 5 to 15," he told in the message.

"After being discharged from the hospital on February 15, the doctor's advised me to stay in home quarantine for 10 days. So on February 15th itself, I arrived in Mumbai by private plane. And after that, on the advice of doctors, I used to go for Pranayam in the park late at night," stated Deshmukh.

"I attended a few virtual meetings in Nagpur hospital and later during the home quarantine. Few officers visited me at home for briefing prior to Budget Session on March 1," he added.

"I stepped out of my house for the first time on February 28 for official work. I am sharing this video to refute the wrong information that is being circulated to mislead the public," said Deshmukh.

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh on Saturday wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray alleging that Deshmukh had indulged in "malpractices" and asked suspended API Sachin Waze to collect Rs 100 crore every month.

The allegations made by Param Bir Singh came a day after Deshmukh had said that Singh was moved out as Mumbai Police Commissioner so that cases pertaining to Waze were probed without obstruction.

In the letter, Singh, who has now been posted as Commandant General of Home Guards, had said that he has been "made a scapegoat to divert attention from the actual wrongdoers".

He had alleged that Sachin Waze, who was heading the Crime Intelligence Unit of the Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police, was called by Deshmukh to his official residence several times in the last few months and "repeatedly instructed to assist in the collection of funds".

Waze, Assistant Police Inspector in the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU), who was transferred to the Citizen Facilitation Centre at Mumbai Police Headquarters after his name came up in Mansukh Hiran death case, has been sent to the NIA custody till March 25, in connection with his alleged role and involvement in placing an explosives-laden vehicle.