From the India Today archives (2021) | Threat to Mukesh Ambani: Inside the 'Bombgate' plot
India TodayReality frequently outpaces fiction in Mumbai, home to the world’s largest film industry. In a letter written and sent to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on March 20, he made the sensational allegation that home minister Deshmukh had asked cops like Vaze to extort Rs 100 crore a month from 1,750 bars, restaurants and ‘other sources’ in Mumbai. NCP chief Sharad Pawar debunked Singh’s allegations, saying no meeting could have taken place between Deshmukh and the police commissioner because the home minister had been hospitalised with Covid-19 between February 1 and 15 and in home quarantine till February 27. But Vaze rejoined the force not on the basis of a MAT or HC order, but under a special committee formed by the government and headed by Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh. Prakash Singh suggests two measures, appoint an honest police commissioner and get Param Bir Singh’s allegations investigated by an officer of unimpeachable integrity appointed by the Supreme Court.