Elgaar Parishad case: Pawar seeking SIT probe, govt review led Centre to hand over case to NIA, says Anil Deshmukh

Deshmukh added that he met Advocate General (AG) Ashutosh Kumbhakoni on Wednesday to seek legal opinion regarding the NIA taking over the case. “I discussed the issue with the AG. He wanted a copy of the letter that the Centre had sent the Maharashtra DGP in connection with NIA taking over the case. I myself have not read the letter, as it is with the law and judiciary department. We will send a copy of the letter to the AG and read it ourselves. After that we will decide whether we should approach the court or not,” the minister said.

Asked why NIA has decided to take over the case, Deshmukh said, “Members of several organisations had recently met me and told ne about the role played by certain individuals close to the Devendra Fadnavis government in the riots. It appears that the government did not want this to come out in a re-investigation and hence, took over the case a day after we conducted the review meeting.”

Maintaining that no one in Maharashtra will lose citizenship due to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Deshmukh said: “I want to assure everyone that there was no reason to worry about CAA and NRC, as we will ensure that no one is impacted. No one in the state should be worried about losing citizenship.”