Mumbai, Mar 25 (PTI) Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Jitendra Awhad on Thursday alleged IPS officer Rashmi Shukla, who is at the centre of a phone tapping controversy, had pressured Independent MLAs into not joining hands with the Maha Vikas Aghadi combine that aimed to keep the BJP out of power post Assembly polls in 2019.

The opposition BJP has been claiming that a phone tapping probe helmed by Shukla as commissioner of the state intelligence department laid bare a transfer and posting for money racket, though the ruling dispensation has refuted the allegations.

Awhad alleged "some officials like Shukla were acting as BJP agents" and claimed the MVA government did not act against her on "humanitarian grounds" as she had asked for "forgiveness".

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)