CBI books former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh over framing BJP leaders in false cases

New Delhi: The CBI has registered an FIR against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, the then special public prosecutor Pravin Pandit Chavan, and two police officials for alleged conspiracy to frame top state BJP leaders in a false case in 2020, officials said Wednesday.

The CBI lodged the case after a two-year preliminary enquiry, which originated from a pen drive handed over to the then Maharashtra Assembly speaker by Devendra Fadnavis, who was in the opposition in 2020, they said.

The "pen drive bomb" contained purported videos showing that special public prosecutor Chavan had allegedly conspired with trustee of Jalgaon Zilla Maratha Vidhya Prasarak Sahakari Samaj and lawyer Vijay Patil and the then home minister and NCP (SP) leader Deshmukh to frame BJP leader Girish Mahajan who is now a minister.

In 2020, a case was registered based on a complaint from Patil, who had alleged that in 2018, he was taken to a hotel in Pune where he was tortured by unknown people who forced him to resign along with other trustees and told him that Mahajan wanted to take over Jalgaon Zilla Maratha Vidhya Prasarak Sahakari Samaj Limited.

The complaint was first registered as zero FIR and later transferred to Pune where it was registered on January 5, 2021, the CBI said.

Fadnavis, currently Deputy CM, submitted video recordings of over 100 hours in the pen drive to suggest that the case was part of a conspiracy to target BJP leaders. The case was first handed over to the CID and later to the CBI for investigation.

During the CBI preliminary enquiry, four MLAs, including Mahajan, approached the central agency, alleging Chavan could be clearly seen in the video recording plotting and drawing up conspiracies and conniving with high-ranking police officers to frame various prominent leaders of BJP.

The MLAs alleged that the video recording clearly shows that Chavan is involved in getting patently false cases registered against Mahajan and other BJP leaders since first step of drafting FIR, tutoring witnesses, arranging cash payments, instructing the investigating officers, etc, besides planting a knife and trying to fit the case under MCOCA.

"It was alleged that a conspiracy was hatched to falsely implicate BJP leaders and others to wrest control of the Jalgaon Zilla Maratha Vidhya Prasarak Sahakari Samaj Limited, which ran over 30 educational institutions in the area," the CBI said.

The agency alleged that, in furtherance of the criminal conspiracy, special public prosecutor Chavan, Patil, the then DCP Poornima Gaikwad, and ACP Sushma Chavan fabricated the statements of witnesses and evidence to falsely implicate the BJP leaders and other innocent persons.

In the FIR, the CBI has also named Chavan, Patil, Gaikwad, and Sushma Chavan as accused, in addition to Deshmukh.

Reacting to the development, Anil Deshmukh called the case "baseless".

"This conspiracy has started after the ground beneath the feet of Fadnavis slipped away as public support for him dwindles. I am not going to be intimidated by such threats and pressure at all. Unflinchingly I have vowed to fight against this oppression of BJP," he posted on 'X'.

Deshmukh said people should see how low level and dirty politics is being done by Fadnavis in Maharashtra.

"In the Lok Sabha elections, the people rejected this corrupt leadership. Now the people of Maharashtra are waiting for the assembly elections," he said.