Revenue minister Eknath Khadse has written a letter to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Union home minister Rajnath Singh and Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding an inquiry i
Revenue minister Eknath Khadse has written a letter to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Union home minister Rajnath Singh and Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding an inquiry into the alleged call made to him by fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
Mr Khadse has also demanded action against ethical hacker Manish Bhangale, who hacked into Pakistan’s website, under the Information Technology Act. According to sources, both Mr Bhangale and AAP leader Preeti Menon, who laid the allegations against Mr Khadse will be on the radar.
Mr Khadse found himself in the middle of a controversy after the AAP leader claimed that Dawood had called him on his cell phone between September 2015 and April 2016. The revenue minister has written a letter to the MEA demanding a thorough inquiry into the matter. “The allegations made against me are serious and they should be probed,” said Mr Khadse on Tuesday.
He further said that he has also written a letter to Union home minister Rajnath Singh and Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis regarding this matter.
Amid the controversy, the Mumbai police has however, given a clean chit to Mr Khadse and stated that no international calls were recorded on Mr Khadse’s cell phone number. On the other hand, Ms Menon had presented a call record of the same number with the help of Ahmedabad-based ethical hacker Manish Bhangale and claimed that Mr Khadse is hiding the truth. She also questioned the police’s instant response in giving a clean chit to Mr Khadse.
Commenting on the matter, Mr Khadse said that he has also written to city police commissioner to take action against Mr Bhangale who had hacked into Pakistan’s telecommunication provider’s site and claimed that Dawood had called him.
The revenue minister said that Mr Bhangale has violated IT law and should hence be looked into. The minister also said that an inquiry must also be made on the man who financed the hacking, a Jayesh Dave, also from Ahmedabad. According to Mr Bhangale, Mr Dave had given him '85 lakh to hack into the Pakistani site. He also said that action should also be taken against Ms Menon as she had used the allegedly hacked information without informing the police about it first.
The minister further said that the Dawood case is being handled by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) as they have easy access to international calls as well as the confidential telephone records. The Rs 30-crore bribery case, in which his alleged associate Gajanan Patil has been arrested, is also being investigated by high ranking police officials. “I am innocent and hence, wanted a thorough inquiry into this matter,” said Mr Khadse.
When questioned if he thought this was a political ploy against him, Mr Khadse said that since nobody is senior than him among the Cabinet ministers so it was quite impossible for someone to try and put him in trouble.
He also refuted claims of the chief minister having had a part to play in the controversy against him.
“It has never happened that I have made a suggestion and the CM has rejected it,” he said. Speaking about the BJP’s faith in him, Mr Khadse said, “I have spent 40 years in politics and always have factual proof to back what I am saying. My party leaders have faith in me and it is not easy to take action against me.”
