By Quaid Najmi
Mumbai, Apr 26 (IANS): Amid the ruckus created by the arrested Rana MP-MLA couple, with Navneet Kaur-Rana shooting off a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla of alleged police misbehaviour, the Mumbai Commissioner of Police Sanjay Pandey finally broke his silence on Tuesday.
Taking to Twitter, Pandey posted a video of the MP-MLA duo, enjoying the warm hospitality of the Khar Police, and raising questions on the authenticity of the Ranas' allegations, with his own terse poser: "Do we say anything more.."
In the revealing CCTV footage, the couple, picked up from their Khar home on the evening of April 23, are in a relaxed mood, indulging in a friendly 'chai pe charcha' style chat with the cops, quite oblivious to the brouhaha raging just outside the police station.
After they were remanded to judicial custody of 14 days, the Amravati (SC reserved seat) MP Navneet Kaur-Rana penned an angry letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, alleging she was not given drinking water, not allowed to use the washroom and subjected to casteist slur.
Even as the Speaker sought a reply from the Maharashtra government within 24 hours, state Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil staunchly defended the Mumbai Police, confidently assertly that "the reality was very different from the allegations".
Shiv Sena MoS Kishore Tiwari lauded the Lok Sabha Speaker for taking serious cognisance of Navneet Kaur-Rana's letter and asking for a report from the Maha Vikas Aghadi government within 24 hours.
"Wish he had shown the same concern for the Dadra & Nagar Haveli MP, (the late) Mohan Delkar, who complained to him and finally he committed suicide," Tiwari said.
The reference was to Delkar's series of complaints to the BJP government at the Centre, in Parliament, the Speaker and other panels which failed to elicit response and he was found dead in a Mumbai hotel on February 22.
Reacting to the Pandey's video post, Congress state General Secretary Sachin Sawant said the Ranas and the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) blatant 'lies' have been exposed before the people of the state.
"The entire aim is to discredit the MVA government and Mumbai Police but their allegations have been proved false and fallen flat on thema The BJP is a truly irresponsible Opposition party in the state banking on lies and backing liars," Sawant said.
Nationalist Congress Party Chief Spokesperson Mahesh Tapase slammed the Ranas and BJP for their falsehoods intended to demoralise the Mumbai Police and discredit the MVA government.
"We want to know from the Speaker Om Birla what kind of action will be taken against his own MPs who try to subdue the police with fake statements by making herself a 'caste-victim' in this manner?" Tapase asked.
The Mumbai Police chief's unexpected 'silent' salvo spoke volumes and not only went viral but generated a huge favourable response for the police department with many saying "they already knew it" and reposed complete faith in the guardians of the law.
The Ranas, nabbed for planning to chant Hanuman Chalisa outside the private home of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in Bandra east, have suffered other setbacks in the past three days and are currently cooling their heels in jail, as their bail plea is posted for hearing on Friday.