Mumbai: The tussle between the Mahavikas Aghadi government and the BJP is heating up after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) intensified its operations targeting the MVA leaders. Two ministers are currently in jail, while several others and their relatives are also on CIA's radar.
Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis handed over a pen drive and some documents to the Union Home Ministry, exposing the allegedly unauthorized posting of IPS officers in Maharashtra. The Mumbai Fort Court had directed the Union Home Ministry to hand over the pen drive and related documents to the Mumbai Cyber Cell within 10 days. When the Union Home Ministry moved the Sessions Court against the order, the court slammed the investigation mechanism and ruled that it was not appropriate for the two investigators to quarrel with each other.
Former intelligence chief and senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla is said to have recorded this conversation, while the Mumbai Cyber Cell has also taken her on its investigation list. The cyber cell deployed for the case had told the court that the testimony of former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis would be crucial in this case and therefore several summons were issued in this regard. However, Fadnavis reportedly did not respond and was therefore notified again. Though Fadnavis co-operated with the probe thereafter, he denied to submit the pen drive or documents, expressing distrust in police and demanded a CBI probe. The police then went to his residence and recorded the reply.
"The police team recorded my answers. The Maharashtra government had been setting aside the issue for six months. I am the whistleblower of this case," Fadnavis said. Meanwhile, Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil accused the him of violating the Official Secrets Act. "Under CRPC Act 160, investigating officers may request any information they wish, and yet Fadnavis hasn't followed through with the authorities' demands," Patil alleged. As informed by the officials, an investigation into the matter is underway as to how the intelligence department's data was leaked.
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