Corruption case: Anil Deshmukh taken into CBI custody from Mumbai jail
According to an official, Deshmukh was taken into custody by the CBI team from the Arthur Road Prison in Central Mumbai and has been placed under arrest.
FollowThe Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday took former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh into custody from Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail in connection with a corruption case registered against him by the central agency in April 2021.
According to an official, Deshmukh was taken into custody by the CBI team from the Arthur Road Prison in Central Mumbai and has been placed under arrest.
On April 1, a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court had allowed the agency to take custody of Deshmukh, his personal secretary Vijay Palande Vaz and personal assistant Kundan Shinde, all arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the money laundering case, from Arthur Road jail where they are currently lodged.
The CBI took custody of Palande and Shinde but could not take in Deshmukh as he was admitted to Sir JJ Group of Hospitals on April 2 after he allegedly had a fall in the jail on March 30, resulting in a shoulder dislocation.
The state-run hospital discharged Deshmukh on Tuesday afternoon and sent him back to jail.
Though Deshmukh had moved High Court challenging the special CBI court’s order that allowed the central agency’s application seeking his custody, a single-judge Bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere Wednesday recused himself from hearing Deshmukh’s plea.
Deshmukh also challenged a special PMLA court order which had allowed CBI’s application and directed the superintendent of Arthur Road jail in Mumbai to hand over his custody to the CBI investigating officer.
CBI registered the corruption case against the Nationalist Congress Party leader on April 21, 2021 based on allegations of corruption levelled by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.
In a letter to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on March 20, 2021, Singh alleged that Deshmukh instructed certain Mumbai police officers, including assistant inspector Sachin Vaze, to collect Rs 100 crore every month from Mumbai’s restaurants and bars.
Subsequently, the ED also registered a money laundering case against Deshmukh, son Hrishikesh and others.
