Maha shuffle! 86 Mumbai cops transferred, Vaze's ex-colleague among them

Mumbai, Mar 24: In a massive turn of events, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government has issued transfer orders of 86 personnel in Mumbai Police, including 65 officers from the Mumbai Crime Branch in one go. As per the documents acquired, the list also features the transfer of Sachin Vaze’s close aide, API Riyaz Kazi to the Arms Wing of Mumbai Police.

 

 

Kazi was questioned by the NIA in the Sachin Waze case was among 86 officials who were transferred on Tuesday. It is being said that "these officers were suspected of being close confidants of Waze and had been bypassing senior officers to remain in touch with him."

 

 

The transfers have been executed under Maharashtra Police Act Section 22 (N) (2) which allows transfers in exceptional cases for the public interest. API Riyazuddin Kazi, who was Waze’s colleague at the Crime Intelligence Unit, was transferred to the Local Arms unit, a relatively low-key department. In all, 65 officials from the Mumbai Crime Branch alone were shunted out, some of them to the traffic department.

 

 

The major reshuffle comes amid the political turmoil taking place within the state government regarding Sachin Vaze's case. This development comes only after BJP leader and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis did a massive expose of transfer racket in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon in Mumbai.

 

Fadnavis revealed that he has 6.3GB of data and phone recordings of the alleged transfer posting racket of IPS and non-IPS officers of Maharashtra Police. He also released communications between the then SID Chief, DGP & ACS (Home) to prove the severity of allegations in the transfer posting racket of the MVA Government.

 

 

Amit the controversies over Sachin Vaze’s arrest and involvement with a murder, former Mumbai Police chief Parambir Singh had alleged that the Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had asked Vaze to collect the extortion money of Rs 100 crores per month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai.

 

Earlier on Tuesday evening, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had met Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as the home department is facing heat over the Vaze case as well as the allegations of corruption against Deshmukh himself.

 

The allegations by Parambir Singh and Sachin Vaze’s suspicious reinstatement done by the MVA government last year and the transfer racket allegations have put the leaders of MVA under severe scrutiny.