By Sushil Kutty
The lousiest trick the Devil can pull on God’s children is convince them the Devil does not exist. Sacked Police Inspector Sachin Vaze convinced Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the Maha Vikas Aghadi Government to reinstate him in the Mumbai Police. It took a murder and a body thrown in the Thane Creek to dispel the notion. Now, Vaze’s mentor—ex-Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh—has convinced the Supreme Court to grant him immunity from arrest.
Devil in disguise! Param Bir Singh—alleged extortionist in cahoots with alleged killer Sachin Vaze—was declared absconder after he vanished from the map. Now, he has resurfaced and the Supreme Court is convinced Singh needs to be free and over ground to unravel the truth in the alleged involvement of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in an extortion case.
The NCP leader is also being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case. But Anil Deshmukh is no devil—unlike the Devil, he couldn’t convince anybody to let go of him. The 72-year-old languishes behind bars in Mumbai while Param Bir Singh goes about doing his thing in the city where Deshmukh’s party NCP has a ruler’s stake.
But, is Deshmukh innocent? That is the billion dollar question. Anybody who has links with Sachin Vaze and Param Bir Singh cannot be innocent till proven not guilty! That’s how it is though let’s not forget that besides murder and extortion, there is also politics involved—namely, what is the Centre’s role in this fiasco?
The BJP and the MVA! If any tribe can beat the Devil in its own game, it’s the tribe of the politicians. The Shiv Sena is ruling and the BJP is smarting. It has a score to settle with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the Shiv Sena. The two erstwhile chums are now sworn enemies. Luckily for the BJP, Sachin Vaze and Param Bir Singh came along. Now, it is a big confusion with dog eat dog ramifications.
Param Bir Singh disappeared after levelling charges of “vasooli” against Deshmukh—his ‘boss’. Deshmukh is in Jail, Singh is roaming free. “What is it with the apex court?” common folk are asking.
The belief in the street is India’s top court shouldn’t be wasting time on Param Bir Singh—give the flawed cop a favourable ear. Whether Deshmukh is guilty or not, Singh should not be given the chance to kick the can ahead—again and again? Somebody has to pick up the can and let the worms out. Till then, the feeling remains that Singh is cheating justice. The both of them, Singh and Vaze, look awfully suspicious.
Of course the courts don’t go by looks, or small talk. The Supreme Court while giving Param Bir Singh immunity from arrest did not seem to be fully convinced that Singh is clean. It has told the Mumbai Police to continue investigating, it is also mulling assigning the investigation to a third agency—the CBI, perhaps.
In which case, the Modi Government will be the guiding hand. Does the apex court believe that talk of the Centre’s interference? Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami is livid that the NIA has not weighed into la affaire Param Bir Singh. Goswami has his own axe to grind and he doesn’t like it that the Modi government is using Singh as Cat’s paw to get at MVA, not that he likes MVA.
It is one big confusing jumble—opposing people with each their own axe to grind. Political entities—MVA against BJP and ex-Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis contributing his mite to spite Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The NCP duo of Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh. Also Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena, who is second only to Prashant Kishore in strategizing.
This broth is already spoiled. There are too many cooks—crooks! There is also a rank smell. Param Bir Singh and Sachin Vaze know where the bodies are buried, so to speak. What’s happening in Mumbai, Maharashtra has both criminal and political angles to it! Too much has happened in too little time for anything to be ruled out.
At the core of it is extortion—big other people’s money covered in anecdotes! La affaire Arnab featuring TRP and abetment to suicide. Murder most foul! Gelatin sticks outside Asia’s richest man’s residence. “Vasooli” ran into hundreds of crores. Drug busts and an actor’s son. Now, the Supreme Court, and hovering over all of it—the Centre. (IPA Service)