Mumbai Police form SIT to probe audio clip released by Manoj Jarange Patil

Mumbai Police have set up a special investigation team (SIT) for a thorough and impartial probe into an audio clip released by Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil. He made the clip public at a press conference in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on October 22.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti issued the order on Monday. According to the order, the clip contains the names of several people and mentions the exchange of certain sums of money. The team was constituted on the instructions of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The team's tasks are a forensic examination of the clip, other related technical investigation, and a full and impartial inquiry into the matter. Additional Commissioner of Police (South Region) Shailesh Balkawade will head the team. Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Regional Division 3) Vijaykant Sagar and Deputy Commissioner of Police Bajrang Bansode of the cyber wing of the Mumbai Crime Branch are members.

The order empowers the team head to appoint more officers as the investigation requires. The team has also been told to brief senior officers on the progress of the probe from time to time.

The recording has ignited a political row in Maharashtra over allegations of transactions worth Rs 500 crore. The alleged conversations include a claim that money was routed to Jarange Patil through Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde. The allegations have not been proven. The recordings will be examined as part of the investigation.

The SIT will examine whether the recordings are genuine, what their original source is and whose voices can be heard in the conversations. Leaders of the Shiv Sena and the BJP have demanded an inquiry. Jarange Patil has made the same demand and told the government that the probe should be independent and free of political interference. He has also said he is ready to cooperate with the investigation.

Senior Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam alleged that some leaders are conspiring to target Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde politically. He asked how some leaders knew about the audio clip even before it became public. Kadam also demanded clarification on whether some elements in the BJP are trying to sideline Shinde and who in the ruling alliance is working against him.

Kadam circulated photographs said to show BJP leader Prasad Lad dining with Jarange Patil. He also claimed to have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister Fadnavis and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat seeking a high-level inquiry.

State Industries Minister and Shiv Sena leader Uday Samant backed Kadam's concern in Kolhapur. He alleged that people linked to the BJP had a hand in the conversations. Samant said Shinde had handled the Maratha reservation issue sensitively and supported the community's demands, and that this was a conspiracy to defame him.

The BJP rejected the allegations. BJP Legislative Council member Pravin Darekar warned that the party would not tolerate Kadam's baseless allegations. He said, "We are partners in the ruling alliance. Staying in government and continually attacking one's own ally does not suit Maharashtra's political culture." Darekar also asked why the BJP would try to weaken Shinde when it had backed him for the chief minister's post after the last election. BJP Legislative Council member Prasad Lad also advised Kadam not to make statements that could split the Mahayuti.

Fadnavis questioned why conversations allegedly held more than two years ago had surfaced only now. He assured that the truth behind the recordings and the people involved would be revealed by the investigation.