An inquiry conducted by the Solapur administration has found that the sand mining in the Kurdu village, which had sparked a verbal confrontation between Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and a police officer, was illegal and the police’s intervention in the matter was correct, The Times of India reported on Thursday.
A first information report was filed against those allegedly involved in the mining.
The Opposition parties in Maharashtra had on September 4 accused Pawar of misusing his power after a purported video of him telling an Indian Police Service officer to stop her action against the illegal soil excavation was widely shared online.
Pawar had claimed on September 5 that his intention was not to interfere with law enforcement but to ensure that the situation “did not escalate further”.
In the video, Anjana Krishna, the deputy superintendent of police in Solapur’s Karmala, was seen on a phone call with Pawar. The phone through which she was speaking belonged to a member of a Nationalist Congress Party faction led by the deputy chief minister, reported The Indian Express.
Pawar could be heard telling Krishna to stop the action against illegal excavation of murrum, used as a sub-base and filling material for road construction.
The police officer was heard saying that she could not ascertain if she was speaking to the deputy chief minister, and asking if the person on the other end could call her on her number.
“Just a minute. I will take action against you,” Pawar could purportedly be heard saying. “I myself am talking to you and you are asking me to call you directly. You want to see me, take my number and make a WhatsApp call.”
After the video was shared online, Pawar said that he has the “highest respect” for police officers. “I remain firmly committed to transparent governance and to ensuring that every illegal activity, including sand mining, is dealt with strictly as per the law,” he said on social media.
A FIR was registered against residents of the village for allegedly preventing officials from performing their duties, The Times of India reported.
District Collector Kumar Ashirwad had launched an inquiry into the incident. The probe report was submitted by the tehsildar of Karmala on Tuesday.
An unidentified official told The Times of India that the mining was illegal because permission was not taken before the excavation work began.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has also ordered a probe into the matter, The New Indian Express reported. The Solapur district commissioner has been asked to submit a report.
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