Criminals do not fear police in Maharashtra under Fadnavis: Anil Deshmukh

Mumbai: Senior NCP leader Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday alleged that the law and order situation has worsened in Maharashtra under the watch of home minister Devendra Fadnavis, claiming that criminals do not fear the police anymore.

Deshmukh's comments came amid outrage over the alleged sexual assault of two four-year-old girls at a school in Badlapur and an attack on a police officer in Pune with a sickle.

"Under Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis, there is no fear of police in the state. Police are being beaten up openly. There needs to be fear of police among criminals," Deshmukh told PTI Video in an interview.

The former state home minister demanded that the Centre approve the Maharashtra government's Shakti Law, which prescribes the death penalty for heinous crimes against women, at the earliest.

Had this law been in place, crime against women would not have taken place, he claimed.

"They (BJP) have a government at the Centre. The Shakti law has been pending approval (Presidential assent) for the past three years. The law prescribes the strictest punishment, including death penalty, for perpetrators of crimes such as rape. The government, however, doesn't seem to be serious on women's issues at all," Deshmukh alleged.

Both the House of Maharashtra legislature had passed the Shakti Criminal Laws (Maharashtra Amendment) Bill, 2020, and the Special Court & Machinery for Implementation of Maharashtra Shakti Criminal Law, 2020, three years ago when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was in power.

The former state home minister alleged the state government was using the flagship Mukhyamantri Mazi Ladki Bahin Yojana, which provides a monthly stipend of Rs 1,500 to eligible women, for political mileage to win the upcoming assembly elections, predicting that the scheme would be discontinued.

If the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition is voted to power, they would continue this scheme, he said.

Deshmukh, who served as home minister when the MVA government was in power, had last month alleged he was pressured by the then opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis to prepare an affidavit implicating the then CM Uddhav Thackeray, deputy CM Ajit Pawar, and ministers Aaditya Thackeray and Anil Parab.

He had blamed Fadnavis for his arrest on charges of corruption and money laundering in the past. Deshmukh is currently out on bail.