Money laundering case: ED summons former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh
This comes a day after EC conducted searches at Deshmukh’s residence in Nagpur. Sources said the ED has established a money trail of Rs 4 crore, allegedly paid by about 10 bar owners in Mumbai to Deshmukh over three months.
FollowThe Enforcement Directorate (ED), probing a money laundering case against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, has summoned him to its office at 11 am on Saturday.
They said the 71-year-old NCP politician has been asked to depose before the investigating officer of the case at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Ballard Estate area here.
The officials also arrested his personal assistant Kundan Shinde and personal secretary Sanjeev Palande after around nine hours of questioning, under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Both Palande and Shinde will be produced in a special PMLA court on Saturday.
The two were brought to the ED office following the searches.
They will be produced before a special PMLA court in Mumbai on Saturday where the ED will seek their remand for custodial interrogation, officials said.
This comes a day after EC conducted searches at Deshmukh’s residence in Nagpur. Sources said the ED has established a money trail of Rs 4 crore, allegedly paid by about 10 bar owners in Mumbai to Deshmukh over three months. Based on the new findings, the ED had carried out searches at four locations, including Deshmukh’s residence, and the premises of Shinde and Palande.
The ED’s probe into Deshmukh’s financial transactions is in line with the CBI probe into former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh’s allegations of corruption against the NCP leader. However, Deshmukh has denied all allegations.
After being shunted out of the Mumbai police, former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had alleged in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in March that Deshmukh had asked Sachin Vaze to extort around Rs 100 crores a month. A majority of this amount was to be collected from bars and restaurants, according to Singh's letter.
Following this, various petitions were filed seeking investigation into the allegations. On the directions of the Bombay High Court, CBI conducted a preliminary inquiry and then registered an FIR against Deshmukh. Searches were conducted at Deshmukh's residence, offices and the premises of his close associates. The CBI also recorded statements of various individuals including Deshmukh.
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