Mumbai: Shiv Sena has yet again trained guns at its ally Bharatiya Janata Party for its role in the controversy surrounding former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi. Backing Mumbai Police Chief Rakesh Maria after his pictures with Modi appeared in reports, Sena attacked the government for making him a scapegoat.
"A condemnable attempt is being made to put the dynamic Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria in the dock. If an official is trapped without even looking into the probe, then it won't bode well for the state," Sena said in its editorial mouth piece Saamana. The editorial also says that Maria can't be expected to handcuff Modi and drag him back to India because he doesn't have the jurisdiction.
In a scathing editorial, Sena also questioned that if the government has backed External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje after names cropped up in the Lalit Modi row, why is it not supporting Maria.
Maria has submitted a report to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis explaining the reason for his meeting with Lalit Modi in London in 2014. He has claimed that Modi's lawyer had approached him citing threats to Lalit Modi's life.
Maharashtra Police sources also claim that Maria had written to the anti-extortion cell soon after he returned from London. The Anti-extortion cell also inquired about the underworld threats allegedly received by Lalit Modi.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra's Minister of State for Home Ranjit Patil had said that repeated requests from Lalit Modi cannot be an "excuse" to meet him and an inquiry will be conducted into what "compelled" Maria to meet Modi. "As far as what we know till now, on his repeated insistence, Maria met Lalit Modi in London. Now we will have to go through records and examine that what compelled Maria to meet him despite knowing there is so much criticism surrounding him. Insistence cannot be an excuse," Patil said.
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