Congress MLA Nana Patole, waving a pen drive in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Thursday, alleged that a few ministers and 72 senior officials of the Maharashtra government were blackmailed to get access to confidential information from government files after being honey trapped.
Patole said that he was willing to divulge the details of the pen drive if the government fails to acknowledge the scandal. He alleged that Thane, Nashik, and Mumbai have become centres of honeytrap and blackmail operations.
“Through honeytraps, important documents of the state fell into the hands of anti-social elements. I do not want to defame anyone but the government is not serious about all this. It is not ready to give even a simple statement. Therefore, I have requested the President to give instructions in this regard,” Patole said.
“More than 72 officials and some ministers of the state have been caught in honeytraps. Confidential information is being collected from those honeytrapped. Also, some officials who have been blackmailed have even considered committing suicide. The government is not ready to say anything about this matter. That is why I raised this issue in the Legislative Assembly today,” Congress MLA Patole said.
Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar-led NCP MLA Jayant Patil said the Nashik honeytrap case is serious. He demanded that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde should issue a statement about all these cases.
Later, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, “We have taken cognizance of this issue”.
Leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have said that Nashik district’s name is being tarnished due to honeytraps.
Speaking on the issue, Sharad Pawar-led NCP leader Jitendra Awhad said, “I am not aware of this complaint, but it is unfortunate that the name of a holy place of pilgrimage like Nashik ends up getting mentioned in such cases. Considering the name of the person around whom all this revolves, the political connections of that person and the behaviour of that person in political circles, we do not know what is really going on in Maharashtra. To what level is a person sinking merely to earn money? What immorality is being used? All this is very shocking and sad.”
The matter came to light after a woman lodged a complaint at the Mumbai Naka police station in Nashik district. It is known that as many as 72 senior government officials were honeytrapped. Names of these officials and some former ministers have been kept confidential by the government. Investigation is being conducted in a confidential manner by the police in Thane and Nashik, sources said.
Sources said a total of three complaints have been received by the Thane Crime Branch. It is understood that a senior officer from Nashik, a person from Navi Mumbai and a prominent person from Thane have filed these complaints. All three complaints contain serious allegations and a high-level confidential investigation is underway.