Mumbai – A special investigation report has brought to light allegations that a former Director General of Police (DGP) in Maharashtra plotted to frame Devendra Fadnavis, the current Chief Minister, and Eknath Shinde, the current Deputy Chief Minister, in a purported scam. The report, submitted by outgoing DGP Rashmi Shukla to the state Home Department just days before her retirement, has ignited a political firestorm.
According to the report, the former DGP, Sanjay Pande, allegedly sought to implicate Fadnavis and Shinde in a 2016 ULC (Urban Land Ceiling) scam. At the time, Fadnavis was the leader of the opposition. It is alleged that Pande instructed Thane DCP Laxmikant Patil and ACP Sardar Patil to arrest Fadnavis and Shinde, claiming they had extorted money from builders. The report further alleges that Pande pressured senior officers to proceed with the arrests.
The report contains details about how Laxmikant Patil allegedly pressured Sanjay Punamia and Sunil Jain, who were arrested at the Kopari Police Station, to implicate Fadnavis and Shinde in the ULC scam, even though Patil was not directly involved in investigating the case. Patil allegedly asked Punamia to state on camera how much money Fadnavis extorted from builders and threatened to bring Fadnavis and Shinde to sit next to Punamia. He also allegedly pressured Sunil Jain to record his statement as directed, threatening jail if he refused.
Adding another layer to the accusations, the report references an audio clip purportedly capturing a conversation among Sardar Patil, Pande, and Laxmikant Patil, discussing plans to implicate Fadnavis. It is also alleged that Patil instructed Punamia to make specific statements on camera to implicate Fadnavis and others.
In light of these revelations, Ameet Satam, the Mumbai BJP president, has demanded that Sanjay Pandey undergo a narcoanalysis test to uncover the mastermind behind the alleged plot to falsely implicate Fadnavis. Satam stated that Pandey was instructed to have Fadnavis arrested on false charges during Uddhav Thackeray's tenure as Chief Minister, and that Pandey assigned this task to two police officers. He referenced the tenure of Uddhav Thackeray, highlighting incidents involving police officials like Sachin Waze and claimed that a conspiracy was orchestrated during Thackeray's tenure in which Pandey was instructed to have Fadnavis arrested on false charges. Satam has urged the government to conduct a thorough probe, taking into account the seriousness of the matter.
In February 2025, the Maharashtra government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the alleged conspiracy to file false cases against Fadnavis and Shinde during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. This SIT was formed after BJP MLA Pravin Darekar raised the issue in the Assembly in December, claiming a conspiracy to falsely implicate the then-opposition leaders. Darekar presented a pen drive in the Assembly, alleging it contained evidence of the MVA government's conspiracy.
These recent allegations have resurfaced previous claims made by Devendra Fadnavis in 2023, where he stated there was a conspiracy to frame him in false charges and put him in jail. Similarly, in September 2024, former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh alleged that Fadnavis was trying to get him arrested with the help of central agencies. Deshmukh claimed that the CBI filed an FIR against him in a four-year-old incident at the behest of Fadnavis.
