Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil claims govt spying on him

Mumbai: Opposition leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil has levelled serious allegations against the Maharashtra government for deploying men to spy on him. He was scheduled to address a press conference on Thursday but before his conference, two people were caught clicking pictures of the journalists. 

 When Mr Vikhe-Patil asked them the reason for doing so, it came to light that they were from the police’s special intelligence branch. Mr Vikhe-Patil then called Mumbai police commissioner Dattatray Padsalgikar, but the latter was not aware of any such deployment.

Mr Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil’s press conference was scheduled for 4:30 pm on Thursday to speak on the Kamala Mills fire issue and the death of farmers due to pesticides in Yavatmal. On learning about the identity of the two, Mr Vikhe-Patil got angry and asked Mr Padsalagikar to investigate the matter and find the reason behind the presence of police officials at his event. 

Later speaking on the issue Mr Vikhe-Patil said, “This government has started spying on opposition leaders. This is anti-democratic and reflects on the nature of the government.” 

Congress state chief Ashok Chavan supported Mr Vikhe-Patil, saying, “This government is scared of the people and their issues, which is why they are sending police to press conferences of opposition leaders. However, it can’t scare the Congress with such tactics. We will fight this dictatorship.”