Former Maharashtra DGP Sanjay Pande had allegedly tried to falsely implicate Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in the ULC scam in 2021, according to a special investigation report submitted by outgoing DGP Rashmi Shukla to the state Home Department. Notably, the report was handed over just four days before Shukla’s retirement.
The report claims that Pande, who was the DGP at the time, wanted to frame the then Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and directed Thane DCP Laxmikant Patil and ACP Sardar Patil to arrest Fadnavis and Shinde in connection with the 2016 ULC scam. It alleged that both leaders were accused of extorting money from builders. Pande is also said to have exerted pressure on senior police officers to push ahead with the arrests.
An audio clip submitted by Sanjay Punamia, one of the accused in the case, has also been mentioned in the report. The recording allegedly contains a conversation involving Pande, Laxmikant Patil and Sardar Patil, in which plans to falsely implicate Fadnavis were discussed.
According to the report, when Punamia and Sunil Jain were brought to the Kopari Police Station after their arrest, Laxmikant Patil—then DCP (Crime), Thane—questioned them about the ULC scam despite not being officially part of the probe. Patil allegedly pressured Punamia to name the amount of money Fadnavis had supposedly extorted from builders and threatened both accused, saying he would bring Fadnavis and Shinde and make them sit beside Punamia.
The report further states that Patil asked Punamia to give on-camera statements implicating Fadnavis and others. Sunil Jain was also allegedly forced to record a statement as instructed, with Patil threatening him with jail if he refused.
The investigation report concludes that Laxmikant Patil had put sustained pressure on both Punamia and Jain to falsely implicate Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde in the ULC scam case in Thane.