The Maharashtra unit of the Congress has sought tough action against senior police officers of Pune,saying they had deliberately targeted the partys Minister of State for Home Ramesh Bagwe by wrongly claiming there were several criminal cases against him and tarnishing the image of the state government.
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Manikrao Thakre told The Indian Express that he was convinced Bagwe was innocent and had asked the state government to clarify the situation and take action against police officers from Pune who had gone public against Bagwe.
In a letter written to Chief Minister Ashok Chavan,Thakre has pointed out that the image of the Democratic Front government was being tarnished,with police officials speaking against Bagwe. I have asked the Chief Minister to clarify the situation as soon as possible as the image of the government is being tarnished,there is a minister of state who is said to be facing 19 criminal cases and there are police officials who are speaking against him publicly, Thakre said. The government should fix responsibility in this case and take action against the police officials concerned.
Without naming the NCP,which is the ruling alliance partner of the Congress in the state and is believed to be backing the police officials,Thakre said,The state government should also find out if someone has instigated them to target Bagwe and take appropriate action against the instigators.