Nagpur, Feb 28 (IANS): Against the backdrop of the illegal phone-tapping FIR lodged by police against a senior woman IPS officer Rashmi Shukla on Saturday, the Maharashtra Congress on Monday said that the investigators should probe the role of Bharatiya Janata Party Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis in the entire matter.

"The IPS officer Rashmi Shukla is merely a pawn. The real culprits are those who guided her when Fadnavis was the state chief minister," state Chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe said here.

His comments came a day after state Party President Nana Patole demanded that the role of Fadnavis - who was handling the home portfolio during the relevant period - be investigated in the illegal phone tapping case.

The Bundgarden Police on Saturday booked the former Pune Police Commissioner Shukla - currently, Additional Director-General, CRPF, at Hyderabad.

The FIR against Shukla followed a recommendation by a state-government panel headed by ex-DGP Sanjay Pandey, invoking Indian Telegraph Act, Sec. 26 and other laws, and tapping phones of prominent opposition leaders between March 2016-July 2018.