PUNE: The opposition on Thursday targeted deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar claiming that he had tried to stop IPS officer Anjana Krishna from Solapur rural police from taking action against an NCP member in an illegal sand mining case. They based their allegation on a video clip of a purported cellphone conversation between Ajit Pawar and her that surfaced on social media.
The purported video was recorded in Kurdu village of Karmala tehsil in Solapur a few days ago. Krishna, who is posted as a sub-divisional police officer of Karmala with Solapur rural police, had gone to take action against illegal murum (sand) mining.
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According to the opposition, an NCP member involved in the illegal mining called Ajit Pawar from his cellphone and requested him to speak to Krishna. The video was recorded by someone in an open field, in which a voice allegedly of Ajit Pawar can be heard telling the IPS officer to stop the action.
Madha MP from NCP (SP) Dhairyasheel Mohite Patil, under whose constituency Kurdu village falls, told TOI, “After the video surfaced, I collected more information and found out that local villagers complained against the sand mining, after which the IPS officer with a district administration team went to the spot. A local NCP member at the spot called up Ajit Pawar and made the officer speak to him, after which the action halted.“Mohite Patil added that the voice in the video told the police officer, “I am giving directions to stop the action. You tell the tehsildar that the dy CM himself said so. The situation in Mumbai is bad, and we need to give it priority.” In the same video, the MP added, the person could be heard threatening action against the IPS officer when she told him to call her on her cellphone directly for authentication. “Are you asking me to call you directly? I will take action against you. You want to see me, give me your number, I will call you on WhatsApp, I hope you will be able to recognise my face. You have the audacity? Give me your number, I will call you,” Mohite Patil said quoting the clip. Social activist Vijay Kumbhar said, “The IPS officer followed the law, but the deputy CM threatened her. Is this why politicians want their ‘favourite’ officers in key positions?” Activist Anjali Damania said that deputy CM should apologise to the officer. TOI’s calls to Krishna on Thursday went unanswered.
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