Former DGP recommends FIR against ex-IPS Sanjay Pandey over conspiracy

Former Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) Rashmi Shukla had recommended registration of an FIR against Sanjay Pandey, a former top cop, and two others over an alleged conspiracy to implicate Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde in a false case in 2016, sources claimed on Saturday.

Reacting to the reports, BJP leaders demanded a thorough investigation to find out at whose instance Pandey, who was director general of police during the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi Government, was allegedly acting.

Before she retired on January 3, Shukla submitted a report in this regard to the home department based on an inquiry conducted by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), sources claimed.

The report suggested that then DGP Sanjay Pandey, Deputy Commissioner of Police Laxmikant Patil and Assistant Commissioner of Police Sardar Patil were involved in a conspiracy to implicate Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (who was then Leader of Opposition in the assembly) as well as current deputy CM Shinde (then a minister), by re-investigating a 2016 extortion case registered at Thane Nagar Police Station, sources alleged.  Shukla recommended that a First Information Report be registered against these three officials, the sources added. A case was registered against Shyamsunder Agarwal at Thane Nagar Police Station in 2016 following a dispute between him and his former business partner, real estate developer Sanjay Punamiya.

A charge sheet was filed in 2017. Pandey, who headed the state police force when Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi Government was in power, ordered a reinvestigation of the case, it is alleged.

Punamiya later filed a complaint at the same police station, alleging that the 2016 case was used as a pretext for reinvestigation between 2021 and June 2024 to harass him and extort money from him. Based on his complaint, an extortion case was registered against Pandey and seven others in 2024.  BJP leader and legislative council member Pravin Darekar had raised the issue in the Maharashtra legislature, claiming that this was a conspiracy to frame Fadnavis and Shinde.

In his statement in the 2024 extortion case, Sardar Patil admitted to the conspiracy, police sources claimed.  State minister Ashish Shelar and Mumbai BJP chief Ameet Satam on Saturday targeted Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray over the issue.

 “Under whose pressure Sanjay Pandey was working? Who gave the orders? Who were the chief minister and home minister at that time? This was done to send Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde to jail. Uddhav Thackeray has built a false image of innocence, but he will have to pay for this sin. During Uddhav Thackeray’s tenure, there was a situation of police chasing police,” said Shelar, demanding that Pandey undergo brain mapping tests and narcoanalysis.

Satam alleged that false documents were prepared to register cases against Fadnavis and Shinde. “Between 2019 and 2022, when Uddhav Thackeray was chief minister, an atmosphere of anarchy prevailed in Maharashtra. Opponents were jailed, cases were filed against those who spoke against the Government, murders were carried out through the police and attacks were orchestrated,” he said.