Maharashtra Top Cop Recommends Arrest of Ex-DGP Over Fadnavis Conspiracy Allegations
Five days before her tenure ended, outgoing Maharashtra DGP Rashmi Shukla recommended to the state Home department that an offence be registered against former DGP Sanjay Pandey and two other police officers over allegations of conspiracy during the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) rule to arrest Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde in connection with a 2016 case. The recommendation was based on a Special Investigation Team (SIT) report submitted to her two months back. The SIT had been formed following a demand by BJP leader Praven Darekar during the Winter Session of the state Assembly in 2024.
Mumbai BJP president Ameet Satam demanded a narco test on Pandey to ascertain the mastermind who wanted to frame Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in false cases. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said any report by Shukla should not be taken seriously as she was “a BJP and RSS worker.”
While Shukla, Pandey, and officers in the SIT did not respond, sources close to Pandey said that an FIR has already been registered against him in a case with similar allegations by the police. “None of the leaders mentioned were arrested or made accused in any case, so it is questionable based on what evidence the recommendation was made,” a source said. The report stated that it was on the basis of statements by some junior officers who claimed to have received instructions to arrest the two leaders that the recommendation was made, an official said.
The report by Shukla suggested that then DGP Sanjay Pandey, Deputy Commissioner of Police Laxmikant Patil, and Assistant Commissioner of Police Sardar Patil were involved in a conspiracy to implicate Fadnavis (who was then Leader of Opposition in the Assembly) as well as current Deputy CM Shinde (then a minister), by re-investigating a 2016 extortion case registered at Thane Nagar police station, sources said. Shukla recommended that an FIR be registered against these three officers, the sources added.
Satam told reporters on Saturday, “Under the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime led by then undivided Shiv Sena president and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, there were shocking incidents involving police officials, such as Sachin Waze, who planted a bomb outside an industrialist’s residence and murdered an innocent person.” “I urge the government to do a narco test on Sanjay Pandey. It is necessary to know at whose behest Pandey was carrying out the work to frame Fadnavis in false cases. The real mastermind behind this should be brought to the public,” he asserted.
Earlier, a case was registered against Shyamsunder Agarwal at Thane Nagar police station in 2016 following a dispute between him and his former business partner, real estate developer Sanjay Punamiya. A chargesheet was filed in 2017. Pandey, who headed the state police force when Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government was in power, ordered a reinvestigation of the case, it is alleged. Punamiya later filed a complaint at the same police station alleging that the 2016 case was used as a pretext for reinvestigation between 2021 and June 2024 to harass him and extort money from him. Based on his complaint, an extortion case was registered against Pandey and seven others in 2024.
