IPS officer Shukla was found guilty in phone tapping inquiry: Maha home minister

Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil on Saturday claimed that a high-level probe had found that senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla had tapped phones illegally.

A First Information Report was registered against her following the report of this inquiry, he told reporters here.

Shukla has been accused of tapping phones of politicians and bureaucrats by misleading her senior officials when she headed by the state intelligence department.

Walse-Patil said the government had asked the state Director General of Police and Mumbai police commissioner to take appropriate action.

Their probe found Shukla guilty following which the FIR was registered against her at the Bund Garden police station in Pune, he said.

Phones of political leaders including state Congress chief Nana Patole, minister Bachchu Kadu, former MLA Ashish Deshmukh, former MP Sanjay Kakade and others were tapped, the home minister alleged.

The pretext given for the phone-tapping was a probe against a drug syndicate, Walse-Patil said.

Legal opinion is being sought as to how to proceed in the case as Shukla is now on central deputation, the home minister added.

He also denied that the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government was pursuing vendetta against Shukla.

While tapping phone, Patole was referred to as `Amjad Khan', Kadu as `Nizamuddin Babu Sheikh', Kakade as `Tarbez Sutar' and Deshmukh as `Rahul Chorge', the minister said.