The Maharashtra state home department has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe an alleged conspiracy by the previous MVA government to implicate then opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis and urban development minister Eknath Shinde in false cases.

MUMBAI: The state home department led by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday set up a four-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe an alleged conspiracy by the erstwhile MVA govt led by Uddhav Thackeray to embroil the then leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis and urban development minister Eknath Shinde in fake cases.
While joint commissioner of police (law and order) Satyanarayan Choudhary will lead the team, State Reserve Police Force DIG Rajiv Jain, deputy commissioner of police Navnath Dhawale and assistant commissioner of police Adikrao Pol will be its other members.The SIT is expected to submit its report within a month. It will be the responsibility of the Mumbai police to provide the required manpower to the SIT.
Fadnavis’s trusted aide Praveen Darekar had raised the issue during the winter session of the state legislature in Nagpur in Dec 2024, saying that there had been a move during the MVA’s tenure to arrest both Fadnavis and Shinde in a fake case.
Cabinet member Shamburaj Desai had then assured the House that in view of the seriousness of the matter, the Mahayuti govt would soon set up a special investigation team to probe all aspects of the issues raised by Darekar, who had further alleged that fake cases had been registered at Thane Nagar police station against Fadnavis and Shinde.
According to a govt resolution issued by joint secretary Venkatesh Bhat, the SIT will probe into complaints against the investigating officer, deputy commissioner of police Laxmikant Patil. Further, it will take cognizance of issues raised by the legislative council in this regard during the December winter session of the state legislature.
Darekar had disclosed at that time that audio clips purportedly linked to the conspiracy were played on major TV channels. He had also claimed that he was in possession of a pen drive containing an audio clip of the purported conversation between former DGP Sanjay Pandey and then DCP Laxmikant Patil in this regard. Darekar claimed that in the audio clip, Pandey is purportedly heard asking Patil, then posted in Thane city, to register a criminal case and arrest both Fadnavis and Shinde.
After the collapse of the MVA or Maha Vikas Aghadi’s govt in mid-2022, Eknath Shinde took over as chief minister and Fadnavis as deputy CM. After last year’s state assembly polls, Fadnavis has returned as chief minister and Shinde is the deputy chief minister.