The Mumbai Police will on Sunday record the statement of Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis, in a case of alleged illegal phone tapping conducted by the State Intelligence Department (SID) during his tenure as the chief minister in the previous BJP-led government and leaking of confidential information.
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Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday, Fadnavis said he had received a notice from the Mumbai Police to appear before the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) Cyber Cell on Sunday to record his statement.
The police notice had claimed that while Fadnavis was sent a questionnaire seeking information pertaining to the case, the police had not received a reply and hence sought that appears before it in person.
Later in the day, Fadnavis claimed that he had received a fresh communication from the Mumbai Police not to visit the police station. Instead, a team of police officers would visit his house to record his statement. “I have cancelled all my Pune programs for tomorrow. I will be at my residence. They can come anytime,” Fadnavis tweeted in the evening.
A case had earlier been registered under the Official Secrets Act, 1923, at BKC cyber police station against unidentified persons for allegedly tapping phones and leaking confidential documents following a complaint by the SID.
Fadnavis said, “The notice has been served to me as I have exposed the MVA government. I demand that the investigation of this case be handed over to the CBI, as this government is not capable of conducting a proper probe in this case.”
He added that he was being pressured as he had exposed a transfer scam that was being operated by the current government. “The state is trying to put pressure on me because I had exposed the transfer scam in the state police force,” Fadnavis said, adding that he had more proof, which he would handover to the CBI.