In Dawood call case, Khadse turns detective

This comes on a day Fadnavis asked the Anti-Terrorism Squad to probe the allegations about the purported calls. Khadse, too, had earlier sought a probe into the issue.

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Aam Aadmi Party leader Preeti Sharma Menon and social activist and former AAP member Anjali Damania have alleged that calls were exchanged between Khadse’s mobile phone and Dawood early last year.

Rubbishing the allegations, Khadse said he had sought the help of MLC Jagwani, who is originally from Karachi, to ascertain facts related to the purported calls. Claiming that he had collected “massive” amounts of documents from Pakistan to “expose” his rivals, Khadse said he had decided to work on it full-time for now to take the matter to its “logical end”.

“Gurmukh Jagwani hails from Karachi…his father and other relatives are still there,” Khadse said. “His father (in fact) was a three-time elected member from Pakistan People’s Party and was elected to Pakistan Parliament twice. He is well connected in the political circles (there). So, I sought his help to get to the facts on calls from Dawood.”

Jagwani’s family is based in Clifton, an upscale Karachi suburb where Dawood allegedly stays. “I have been told that the charges of phone calls (being exchanged with Dawood), along with the address cited by my critics (Menon and Damania), are absolutely wrong,” he said.

Claiming that information has “started pouring in”, Khadse said, “I have enough documents to nail the lies of my critics. I am going to furnish all details to the police.”

The minister said his decision to himself investigate the alleged calls using independent sources was backed by a team of IT professionals. This team, he said, was “working overtime to hold demonstrations” to show that calls from Dawood’s phone could be made to any phone without the knowledge of the receiver. While the police had reportedly given him a “clean chit” initially, they now say investigation was still under way, especially after an ethical hacker has given details of calls allegedly made from Dawood’s number to Khadse between January and March last year.

But a confident Khadse said, “All facts will come out in one week — I have all the documents.” He indicated that this campaign to vilify him was possibly an outcome of his decision as the revenue minister to act against people “violating norms in matters of land”. “But I will not accuse anyone at this moment. I will wait for all facts and investigation to get over,” he added.

Khadse also ruled out an insider ploy to defame him, or any differences with the leadership in the state. “I have been in politics for 40 years. Devendra (Fadnavis) is much junior… So where is the question of any difference,” he asked.