Illegal phone tapping case: Clean chit to IPS officer Rashmi Shukla, Pune city police file ‘C-summary’ closure report
The Pune city police have recently filed a ‘C- summary’ closure report in the alleged illegal phone tapping case lodged against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla, highly placed sources in the police department confirmed. A ‘C-summary’ report is filed by the police when it is found during a probe that the FIR was lodged on the basis of the mistake of facts.
A 1988-batch IPS officer, Shukla is the former Pune city police commissioner and is currently on central deputation as additional director general of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
A first information report (FIR) in this case was lodged at the Bund Garden police station on February 25, 2022. As per the FIR against Shukla, the phones of state Congress president Nana Patole, MLA Bachchu Kadu, BJP leader and former MP Sanjay Kakade and one Ashish Deshmukh were allegedly illegally tapped for 60 days.
As stated in the FIR, Patole’s phone was tapped under the name ‘Amjad Khan’, Kadu’s phone was tapped under the name ‘Nijamuddin Babu Shaikh’ and Deshmukh’s name was tapped under the names ‘Raghu Chorge’ and ‘Hina Salunkhe’. All three were alleged to be involved in “narcotics smuggling”. Kakade’s phone was tapped in the names of ‘Tabrej Sutar’ and ‘Abhijit Nayar’ and he was alleged to be a member of the dreaded Bapu Nayar gang in Pune city.
Last year, Patole had alleged in the state legislative assembly that his phone was tapped during the 2016-2017 period when he was a BJP MP. Patole had also alleged that the phones of Union minister Roasaheb Danve’s personal assistant, then BJP MP Kakade and other elected representatives were also tapped. “I was a Member of Parliament in 2016-17 and there was no reason to tap my phone. This is an attempt to destroy political careers,” he had said.
NCP MLA Dilip Walse Patil, who was then the state home minister, had announced that the government will probe Patole’s allegations. Accordingly, a three-member committee headed by then director general of police Sanjay Pandey was formed to conduct an inquiry into this matter. The other members of the committee included the state intelligence department (SID) commissioner and the additional commissioner of the special branch. Incidentally, Pandey was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged money laundering case in July this year.
“The three-member committee conducted an inquiry to know whether illegal phone tapping of elected representatives was done with wrong political motives between 2015 and 2019. The inquiry report submitted by the committee regarding investigation of those found involved in the illegal phone tapping has been accepted by the state government. The committee has stated in its report that Rashmi Shukla did illegal phone tapping at the time when she was the commissioner of Pune city police (between March 2016 and July 2018). So an offence has been lodged…under Section 26 of the Indian Telegraph Act,” a press release issued by the Pune city police on February 26 this year had stated.
Assistant Police Inspector Vaishali Chandgude of the Crime Branch of the Pune City police had lodged the FIR, which mentioned that despite having proper knowledge of legal procedures for phone tapping, Shukla allegedly did not follow the rules and carried out phone tapping with “bad political motives”.
The issue had sent ripples in the political circles in the state. Shukla was heading the state intelligence department (SID) and went on a central deputation in February 2021 after the then ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government made allegations that its leaders’ phones were being illegally tapped.
A controversy also broke out after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was then the leader of the Opposition, cited a letter, purportedly written by Shukla to the then DGP about alleged corruption in the transfer of police officers.
The Shiv Sena-led ruling coalition alleged that Shukla tapped phones without permission. Then, following a complaint by SID, the Mumbai police had lodged an FIR in March 2021 under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 at BKC cyber police station against unidentified persons for allegedly tapping phones and leaking confidential documents. Shukla moved the Bombay High Court against the FIR.
Meanwhile, in July, the state government issued orders to shift the investigation from the Mumbai Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation. A month later, in August, Shukla met Fadnavis and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, raising speculations about her return to Maharashtra police in a key position.
