Bawankule defends Ajit Pawar over IPS officer row; says he can never exert pressure for illegal work

Mumbai, Sep 5 (PTI) Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Friday came out in defence of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who is facing flak over a viral video that showed him rebuking a woman IPS officer and asking her to stop action against illegal soil excavation.

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Bawankule said Pawar's phone call to the officer was being misinterpreted.

"When you talk about such phone calls, the person on the other side does not know the exact matter. This has happened with me many times as well," he said, stressing that Pawar was not the kind of leader who would pressure officials for unlawful work.

"You often don't know the exact situation. Sometimes, officers say a matter is illegal, while party workers insist it is legal. That is how such controversies arise. I do not think Ajit Pawar would ever scold any officer to push for something unauthorised. I feel he only made that call to ensure justice to a party worker, and he may not have known that it was about illegal excavation," he said.

The viral video, aired by Marathi news channels, showed Anjana Krishna, the IPS officer at Karmala in Solapur district, talking to Pawar on a local NCP worker's phone. She did not recognise his voice at first. Pawar then made a video call to her and purportedly asked in a stern tone to stop the action against excavation. Murum soil is often used in road construction.

A day after the video went viral, Pawar on Friday said he had no intention of interfering but was only trying to de-escalate a tense situation.

Police registered a case against several persons for allegedly obstructing the IPS officer and other officials as they were taking action against illegal 'murum' soil excavation in Solapur district.

The First Information Report (FIR) was registered against Baba Jagtap, Nitin Mali, Santosh Kapre, Anna Dhane and 15 to 20 others under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 132 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 189 (2) (unlawful assembly), and relevant sections of the Protection of Environment Act, a Kurduwadi police station official said.

The incident had taken place on August 31 when revenue department officials along with the IPS officer reached Kapre Wasti to take action against the illegal excavation. The accused allegedly tried to obstruct the action, the official added. PTI ND NP