CBI records IPS officer Rashmi Shukla’s statement in Maharashtra phone tapping case

Last year, Maharashtra's state intelligence department under Shukla tapped telephones of politically connected people allegedly discussing transfers and posting of police officers in exchange for money.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has recorded the statement of IPS officer Rashmi Shukla in connection with its probe into the corruption case registered against former Maharashtra Home Minister, Anil Deshmukh.

A CBI team recorded the statement of Shukla on April 21, said an official.

Last year, Maharashtra’s state intelligence department under Shukla tapped telephones of politically connected people allegedly discussing transfers and posting of police officers in exchange for money.

On April 26, the Mumbai cyber police summoned Shukla in connection with a case registered under the Officials Secrets Act against unknown persons for alleged illegal tapping of phones and leaking of findings of official secret documents. A day later Shukla wrote to the department expressing her inability to join the probe due to the Covid-19 pandemic. She, instead, asked the cyber police to send her a questionnaire.

Shukla is currently ADG Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) posted in Hyderabad.

The CBI has booked Anil Deshmukh for alleged “attempt to obtain undue advantage for improper and dishonest performance of the public duty”.

The agency is also probing him for exercising “undue influence” over transfers, postings of police officials and influencing the performance of offcials as alleged by former Mumbai police commissioner Parambir Singh.

On March 20, Singh in an eight-page letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray alleged that Deshmukh asked now suspended API Sachin Waze to collect Rs 100 crore every month, including Rs 40-50 crore, from 1,750 bars and restaurants in Mumbai.

Waze is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his alleged role in the Ambani house bomb scare and the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran.

Deshmukh, who denied the allegations levelled against him, resigned from the cabinet on April 5.

Source: Read Full Article