The resignation of revenue minister Eknath Khadse, who is under fire for various allegations made against him and one of his alleged aides, will have no impact on ongoing investigations, said official
The resignation of revenue minister Eknath Khadse, who is under fire for various allegations made against him and one of his alleged aides, will have no impact on ongoing investigations, said officials of the Anti-Terrorism Squad and the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
The ATS is currently investigating the allegations made by self-styled hacker Manish Bhangale that Mr Khadse was in contact with fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim. Mr Bhangale is basing his allegation on data he accessed from landlines registered at the gangster’s Pakistan house.
The ACB on the other hand is looking into corruption charges levied on Gajanan Patil, who is allegedly the personal aide of Mr Khadse.
ATS officials said Mr Khadse resigning from his ministerial post is of no bearing to the investigation. “We are looking into the data which a person is said to have gained from hacking into Dawood’s landline service provider. Whether the number of the former minister is appearing in the list is to be looked into. We also have to investigate about the gangster and his family allegedly calling influential people in India,” said an ATS source.
The source asserted they would have probed the issue even if the allegations had been made against a common man. “For us, it is an investigation. Whether the person asking for the probe or the person making allegations is an influential person or a minister, it does not change the course of the investigation,” he said. He added if the investigation demanded that Mr Khadse record his statement before an official, they would ask him to do so.
After tendering his resignation, Mr Khadse in his press briefing had referred to Mr Bhangale and said that, “Bhangale is a hacker, which means he is a thief.”
In reply, Mr Bhangale said, “I am not giving any importance to what he said about me in his press briefing.” He added, “My aim is not to get him to resign. According to the data obtained by me, he is guilty of being in touch with a gangster. Till he isn’t arrested and sent to jail, I shall stick to my statement and evidence provided by me.”
ACB officials held the same view on the situation. “We are looking into corruption charges and allegations of bribe demanding on Gajanan Patil. While the complainant has alleged that Patil called himself Khadse’s personal aide, we are still investigating this,” said an officer.
