Raj Thackeray said a thorough probe must be conducted (File)
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray said state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh should resign in the wake of allegations levelled against him by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh and a thorough probe must be conducted into the matter.
"Mumbai's former Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh's letter to the chief minister is explosive. This is so damaging for Maharashtra's image. Anil Deshmukh needs to submit his resignation immediately and a thorough investigation too needs to be made," he said in a tweet.
Former Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis has also demanded Anil Deshmukh's resignation.
"We demand the Home Minister's resignation. If he doesn't, then chief minister must remove him. Impartial probe must be conducted... The letter also states that chief minister was intimated about this earlier so why didn't he act on it?," Mr Fadnavis asked.
Param Bir Singh on Saturday wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray alleging that Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had asked suspended police officer Sachin Vaze to collect Rs 100 crore every month.
The allegations were made a day after Anil Deshmukh had said that Param Bir Singh was moved out as Mumbai Police Commissioner so that cases pertaining to Sachin Vaze are probed without obstruction.
In the letter, Mr Singh, who has now been posted as Commandant General of Home Guards, said that he has been "made a scapegoat to divert attention from the actual wrongdoers".
Anil Deshmukh has refuted the allegations against him.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)