A Special Investigation Team (SIT) report has revealed a serious conspiracy to falsely implicate Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in a case from 2016 at the Thane Nagar Police Station, the report says.

The SIT report has recommended that criminal charges be filed against former Director General of Police Sanjay Pandey, former Deputy Commissioner Laxmikant Patil, and Assistant Commissioner Sardar Patil for allegedly plotting to trap the two leaders in a false case.

The report was given to the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) by former DGP Rashmi Shukla just five days before she retired.

According to the SIT report, there were attempts to frame Devendra Fadnavis that increased during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, and these efforts grew stronger after Sanjay Pandey became Mumbai Police Commissioner and later Director General of Police (DGP).

The report comes just before elections for 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including Mumbai, Pune, and Pimpri-Chinchwad, with polling on January 15 and counting on January 16.

A day before the report became public, Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde campaigned in Pune ahead of the Pune Municipal Corporation elections. He told the media that the Mahayuti alliance is contesting the civic polls on the issue of development and will win in both Mumbai and Pune.

Speaking to reporters at Katraj, Shinde said he did not know about statements made by any individual party worker, but he emphasised that Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party are contesting the elections with full strength.

He said, “We are fighting this election on the issue of development.” He also added that the work done during his two-and-a-half-year tenure as Chief Minister and the work done under Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the past year is being taken directly to the people.