Maharashtra BJP chief Bawankule challenges Anil Deshmukh to take narco test

Nagpur: Maharashtra BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule criticized former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Sunday, suggesting that Deshmukh should agree to a narco test since dismissed police inspector Sachin Waze is willing to take one.
Bawankule accused Deshmukh of focusing solely on Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis instead of cooperating with investigations.
"My request to Anil Deshmukh is that Sachin Waze is ready for a narco test. Deshmukh should also express his willingness to undergo such an investigation instead of only discussing Devendra Fadnavis," Bawankule told ANI.
He added, "No leader of the Maha Vikas Aghadi can speak without mentioning Devendra Fadnavis. They fear their corruption will be exposed."
Earlier in the day, Deshmukh, from the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), claimed that Waze and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had made similar accusations against him three years ago on the instruction of Devendra Fadnavis, now Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister.
"The allegations made against me yesterday by Sachin Waze were also levelled by him and Param Bir Singh three years ago, at the behest of Devendra Fadnavis," Deshmukh told ANI.
The former Maharashtra Home Minister also said that when he was accused three years ago, he requested an investigation into the matter. An inquiry was conducted by High Court Justice Chandiwal, whose report cleared him of wrongdoing.
Deshmukh alleged that Maharashtra DyCM Devendra Fadnavis was not making Justice Chandiwal's report public because the report had exonerated him.
"When I was accused three years ago, I asked the Chief Minister to investigate the allegations. The Chief Minister assigned the task to Justice Chandiwal of the High Court. Justice Chandiwal conducted a detailed inquiry over 11 months, producing a 1,400-page report. The report was handed over to the government 2 years ago...I have been given a clean chit in that report. Because of this, Devendra Fadnavis is not making the report public. I urge him to make the 1,400-page report public," Deshmukh said.
Deshmukh further stated, "Yesterday, Devendra Fadnavis again used Sachin Waze to level allegations against me. Everyone knows that Sachin Waze is accused in a terrorist case and two murder cases. He is in jail, and Fadnavis has to rely on him to level allegations against me. It is surprising."
Sachin Waze, a dismissed Mumbai Assistant Police Inspector, who is also accused in Rs 100 crore extortion case, claimed on Friday that he had written a letter to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, submitting evidence of alleged bribes taken by former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
"Whatever has happened, the proof is there. The money went through his (Deshmukh's) PA; the CBI has the evidence. I have also written to Devendra Fadnavis and submitted all the evidence, including mentioning Jayant Patil," Waze told ANI.
Waze also said, "I am ready for that (a NARCO test)."
Sachin Waze is an accused in the 2021 Antilia bomb scare and the Mansukh Hiren murder case. He is the prime accused in placing an explosive-laden vehicle near Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani's house, Antilia, in Mumbai on February 25, 2021. The NIA arrested Waze in March 2021 in connection with the investigation into the recovery of explosives from a car parked near Mukesh Ambani's house.
Former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh was arrested by the ED in 2021 in an alleged money laundering case and spent several months in jail.
The CBI had registered a corruption case against Deshmukh following allegations that, as home minister, Deshmukh directed police officials to collect Rs 100 crore per month from bar owners. Deshmukh was later arrested in the case and subsequently secured bail.