In a conversation with Ketan Ranga, absconding Ram Rao Patil sheds light on the ex-union minister's involvement in the bribery case against his son
In a conversation with Ketan Ranga, absconding Ram Rao Patil sheds light on the ex-union minister's involvement in the bribery case against his son
What made you contact Buta Singh's son?
I was implicated in the atrocities case (see box). As the chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes, Buta Singh had come to Nashik on July 10 and made my employees file the case against me .
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So, I thought he could get me out of the case and I contacted him. After I requested him to help me, Singh gave me a phone number and asked me to speak to his son Sarabjot. Singh must have spoken to Sarabjot about my call.
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BEHIND BARS: Sarabjot Singh allegedly demanded Rs 3 crore from Ram Rao Patil to get him out of the case.
What happened during your conversation with Sarabjot?
I told him that Buta Singh had asked me to speak to him regarding the case. He demanded Rs 3 crore to get me out of the case and asked me to visit him in Delhi.
Did you go to Delhi?
Yes.
What deal did you strike with them?
I visited Delhi on July 16. He had asked for Rs 3 crore, but I negotiated it down to Rs 1 crore and he promised me that his father would help me. Dr Anup Begi of Pune, the president of Akhil Bhartiya Safai Majdoor Congress, Maharashtra was also part of the meeting.
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If they were going to get you out of trouble, what made you approach the CBI?
Some time after the meeting, I found out that they were blackmailing me and would not get me out of the case. So, on July 18, I approached the CBI and told them everything. The CBI asked me to stay in touch with them and said they would set a trap to nab them.
What was the trap?
Sarabjot asked me to pay the money to Begi. I met Begi in a hotel in Mumbai with the money a day before Sarabjot was arrested. I spoke to him and handed him the bag filled with money. Then I called Sarabjot and told him that I had given the money to Begi. Once again, he told me not to worry and that he would sort out the case.
What happened next?
This was all part of the CBI's trap. CBI recorded my conversations with Begi and Sarabjot. Soon after Begi took the money, the CBI arrested him. Sarabjot was arrested in Delhi later and brought to Mumbai.
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Do you think Buta Singh is involved in the case?
I can't comment on this now. [Patil has, however, said Singh had asked him to contact his son and even told the CBI that Singh was involved in the case.]
What about Ram Rao Patil?
Patil, a civil contractor, had bagged contracts for door-to-door garbage collection in Navi Mumbai, Thane, Kolhapur and Nashik.
He purchased vehicles and employed several workers, mostly from scheduled castes.
The case filed against Patil on July 11 related to a Rs 100 crore loan that he had taken in 2006 from Chandrakant Haribade Cooperative Society in Navi Mumbai in the name of many of his Dalit workers.
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Patil had allegedly obtained signatures from these workers, promising them jobs in civic bodies. There was a loan of nearly Rs 6 lakh against the name of each worker.
The workers realised what had happened only last month when they were served a u00a0notice for non-payment of dues.
Begi had represented the workers and taken up the matter with Buta Singh's office. Singh had then visited Nashik on July 10 to look into it.
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Following his instructions, the workers lodged a police complaint.
According to the police, Patil kept telling them that he would appear before them, but did not. He has now been declared wanted.
Meanwhile, Buta Singh's role in the case is still being investigated, says the CBI.
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