Former encounter specialist and retired deputy commissioner of police Ravindranath Angre defected the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and joined the Congress party on Tuesday in the presence of state Congress party president Ashok Chavan. Following his footsteps, NCP leader Munaf Patel too joined the Congress. 61-year-old Angre was the General Secretary of Thane and Dombivali unit of BJP. “I joined the BJP in 2015 with a lot of hope and aspiration, but all they did was organise events and give false promises. The Rafale scandal was a trigger which forced me to quit the party. Army men leave their families and secure the borders. In return, their fund has been given to businessmen who are close to the establishment. I was hurt, so I decided to quit the BJP and join India’s oldest political force. There should be zero tolerance for corruption in defence. It is an insult to our soldiers,” said Angre fuming. Angre joined as police sub-inspector in1983 and retired as a deputy police commissioner in Mumbai. He had gunned down 54 underworld gangsters and criminals in his controversial career. “I worked in Mumbai and Thane crime branch. Along with my team, I had encountered many underworld gangs — Suresh Manchekar’s gang in Thane and Dombivali and Ravi Pujari in Mumbai. We had almost put an end to organised crimes in Mumbai and Thane and made the Mumbai gang war free,” Angre said. He also said that he closely worked with home minister late RR Patil, Gopinath Munde and Chhagan Bhujbal. When asked whether he is planning to contest the Lok Sabha election in 2019, Angre clarified that he has no such plan but whatever work the party gives him he will do honestly and strengthen the party ahead of the 2019 elections. ANGRE'S RECORD

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