Eknath Khadse – who resigned last week from the Maharashtra cabinet over multiple allegations of wrongdoing – is likely to be exonerated by the state police. He had been charged for receiving calls from fugitive mob boss Dawood Ibrahim.
A Home Department official, on the condition of anonymity, said that the investigation into the alleged calls made to Khadse’s cell phone from a Karachi-based landline (allegedly registered in the name of Dawood’s wife) is almost over, and the final report may be out in a week.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad or ATS (which probed the allegation) has received all the call data records. So far, nothing significant has come out of the investigations into these call data records.
Earlier, the crime branch of Mumbai police had said the allegations, first levelled by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP ), had no substance.
Could the Call Records Be Fake?
The ATS had summoned Gujarat-based Manish Bhangale, who had claimed to have obtained the records of a Pakistani telecom firm, for questioning last week. But he did not turn up. Bhangale has moved the Bombay High Court seeking a CBI probe. His petition would be heard on 14 June.
The AAP had cited records obtained by Bhangale, who calls himself an “ethical hacker”.
But the ATS now says they are exploring the possibility that the source of the information might have been fake.
Khadse has denied the allegation, saying the mobile number concerned was not even in operation for the past one year.
Last week, Khadse had quit as the Maharashtra Revenue Minister on corruption charges.
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