- Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar was heard ordering an IPS officer to stop illegal soil excavation in Solapur
- The officer, Anjana Krishna, was taking action against illegal murrum soil excavation for road construction
- Krishna did not recognise Pawar’s voice and asked him to call her on her mobile phone
In a now viral video, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar can be heard having a heated exchange with a woman Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who was taking action against illegal excavation of soil in Solapur.
In the video the leader was heard saying, "Suno, mai deputy chief minister bol raha hu aur aapko aadesh deta hu ki vo rokwao (Listen, I am the deputy chief minister and giving you the order to stop it)," Pawar can be heard telling the officer.
The lady officer, Anjana Krishna, a sub-divisional police officer, had reached Solapur's Kurdu village to take action on the complaint of illegal excavation of 'murrum' soil for road construction.
The interaction happened on the phone of a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) worker on August 31.
As per NDTV, Krishna is a resident of Kerala who was recently posted in Maharashtra. In the same line she failed to recognise the minister's voice and asked him to call on her mobile phone. "Mai tere upar action lunga (I will take action against you)," Pawar then told Krishna.
"Tujhe mujhe dekhna hai na. Tera number de do ya WhatsApp call karo. Mera chehra toh aapko samajh me aaega na (You want to see me, right? Give me your number or call me on WhatsApp. You will recognise my face, right?)," he said.
"Itna aapko daring hua hai kya (how dare you)," asked Pawar.
#Watch | "How Dare You?" Ajit Pawar's Exchange With Woman IPS Officer Over Excavationhttps://t.co/oM9HKKwGS7 pic.twitter.com/wPE0u2tpTy
Shortly after this, Maharashtra Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule told ANI that, "...When you place a phone call like that, the one on the other side does not know of the matter. It has happened with me too sometimes. When you do not know the situation at hand, officer tells you that it is illegal but the other party says that it is legal. Such issues rise out of this controversy. I think Ajit Pawar can never scold any officer over something illegal and wrong..."
#WATCH | Nagpur: On a viral video claiming that Deputy CM Ajit Pawar allegedly pressurised a woman IPS officer to halt action against illegal soil excavation in Solapur, Maharahstra Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule says, "...When you place a phone call like that, the one on the… pic.twitter.com/PosZCbESMY
NCP MP Sunil Tatkare said the video was deliberately leaked and claimed that Pawar didn't intend to stop the action but might have berated the officer to placate party workers, NDTV reported.
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