Sachin Waze's reinduction into police ruined things for MVA: Sanjay Raut
Raut has also reiterated that the then home minister Anil Deshmukh had no role in reinstating Waze, and he was brought back despite opposition from various quarters.
Waze was put in charge of the Mumbai police's Crime Intelligence Unit during the MVA government headed by Uddhav Thackeray. The controversial police officer was arrested in the murder of Mansukh Hiren, one of the accused in the Antilia bomb scare case, and is facing a slew of cases. He was also facing charges in the custodial death case of accused Khwaja Yunus. Earlier, he was associated with the Shiv Sena's IT cell.
Speaking to the media on Sunday, Raut said that he had personally met NCP chief Sharad Pawar, urging him not to reinstate Waze, and Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi was witness to this. 'I told Pawar saheb that Waze's reinstatement could lead to controversies, but the decision had already been taken,' said Raut.
Abu Azmi confirmed that Sanjay Raut had opposed Waze's return to the Mumbai police. 'When I came to know that there was a proposal to reinstate him, I met Sharad Pawar and requested him to stop the process, as Waze was an accused in the Khwaja Yunus case,' he said. 'Sanjay Raut had also opposed it but Waze was reinstated anyway.'
The book says that Waze could not have been reinstated without the consent of the police commissioner. 'Someone had recommended his reinstatement. Someone in the government should have stopped it. I was not home minister or chief minister so I can't say much on it now,' Raut stated.
The book noted that one group had an interest in reinstating Waze, and Anil Deshmukh had to pay the price for this. 'The entire trial against Deshmukh was due to the statement made by Waze, who is a criminal. Waze's statements were used by the then opposition parties (the BJP) to target the government. But his statements were not accepted by the courts and this was a blow to the Enforcement Directorate. Deshmukh and Waze may have met just once for briefing on a legislature-related query,' says the book.
The book also mentions that Waze was extorting money for 'Number 1', and this was not Deshmukh but the then Mumbai police commissioner Parambir Singh.
HT attempted to contact Singh but he did not respond to calls. His successor Sanjay Pandey refused to comment.
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