'MVA govt gave target to former CP Sanjay Pandey to arrest me': Maha Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis

"It's the truth, you can ask any police officer about it. They will let you know," said BJP senior leader Devendra Fadnavis. Following the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, Devendra Fadnavis returned as the Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra.

Team Newsable

First Published Jan 24, 2023, 2:45 PM IST

The Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, said the former Mumbai police chief Sanjay Pandey was given a target to arrest him, but the officer could not succeed as he had done nothing wrong.

While talking at an event hosted by regional news channel ABP Majha, Fadnavis said, "The Mahavikas Aghadi government gave a target to the then-Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey to put me in jail. The MVA government had given orders to frame me or charge me with a crime."

Following the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, which also included the Congress and National Congress Party (NCP) last year, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis returned as the Deputy chief minister.

"It's the truth; you can ask any police officer about it. They will let you know, adding that I had done nothing to help them put me in jail, so they failed."

Additionally, Fadnavis said he has no personal animosity toward Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, who previously served as chief minister with the support of Congress and the NCP.

"Uddhav Thackeray has completely stopped returning my phone calls. If he didn't want to form an alliance (with the BJP after the 2019 state elections), he should have told me," he added.

Furthermore, he claimed, "I recently met wahini' (Uddhav Thackeray's wife Rashmi) at a function and asked her to convey my regards to Uddhav Thackeray. This is Maharashtra's culture, and I don't wish to disregard it."

Soon after the MVA government collapsed, Pandey, a retired Indian Police Officer from the 1986 batch, was arrested in connection with a money laundering case involving alleged illegal phone tapping of NSE employees. The former top cop is currently out on bail.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Last Updated Jan 24, 2023, 2:45 PM IST