By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2021-03-19 05:48:42
What in the world is the MVA government headed by Uddhav Thackeray trying to do? An explosives-laden SUV is found near the home of India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani. The Mumbai police 'investigates' the matter and tries to pin charges on a terrorist outfit. But the matter blows in the face of the police force and the government when it is discovered that previously discredited and suspended (reinstated in a hurry after the MVA came to power) assistant inspector of Mumbai police, Sachin Waze (who had resigned and joined the Shiv Sena after he was suspended) was behind the plant of the vehicle. The vehicle belonged to his 'associate', businessman Mansukh Hiran (who was later found dead in a creek near Thane), and Waze is supposed to have used it to first generate a scare and then 'solve' the 'crime' to earn plaudits. He could not have acted on his own and obviously there are higher-ups involved in the fiasco.
But the manner in which the MVA government kept on defending Waze and said that the Centre was taking revenge on him by involving the National Investigating Agency (NIA) in the matter because he had arrested Arnab Goswami was disgusting. Waze was later suspended when his involvement became clear. Now, the state government has also transferred Parambir Singh, the Mumbai police commissioner (CP). It first said that it was a routine transfer but later state home minister Anil Deshmukh said that the CP was removed because the preliminary probe found "serious lapses" in his office. It is becoming clear with each passing day that there is much more to the story than what meets the eye and the involvement of top politicians, including chief minister Thackeray (Sachin Waze was his blue-eyed boy), cannot be ruled out. It is also clear that Waze and Singh have been removed to protect politicians. It is now upon the NIA to uncover the conspiracy and book all those who are involved in it.