Former Home Minister of Maha' Anil Deshmukh summoned by ED

Nagpur:The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh to appear before it on Saturday.The summons were issued following a search operation at his residence in Nagpur and Mumbai on Friday.

Deshmukh’s Personal Assistant Kundan Shinde and Secretary Sanjeev Palande were arrested on late Friday evening.Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh has leveled money laundering allegations against Deshmukh.

The ED probe into the financial transactions of Deshmukh is in line with CBI probe into allegations that the former Minister had asked police officers, including the dismissed Assistant Police Inspector (API) Sachin Waze, to illegally extort Rs 100 crore including Rs 40-50 crore each month from 1750 bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai.

Deshmukh has denied the allegations which were made on March 20 by Singh in an eight-page letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, sent out after he was shunted out from his position as the Mumbai police chief.

The ED registered a case against Deshmukh for allegedly obtaining illegal gratification, based on an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April. The CBI said Deshmukh used his official position to obtain certain undue advantage and had also influenced the transfers and postings in the Mumbai Police as alleged by the former Mumbai Police Commissioner.

The sources also said that Waze is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his alleged role in the Ambani house bomb scare case and the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran. Waze had earlier submitted a letter to the NIA court supporting the allegations made by Singh against Deshmukh and also levelled corruption charges against Transport Minister Anil Parab of the Shiv Sena.

Waze alleged that Deshmukh had asked him to pay Rs 2 crore for his reinstatement in the Mumbai Police. The court, however, has not taken the letter on record. After a decade-and-a-half of being suspended in a case of custodial death, Waze had rejoined the police force in 2020.

Earlier on April 25, the ED had searched the Nagpur residence of Sagar Bhatewar, a close aide of Deshmukh, who is also a director on several firms controlled by the family of Deshmukh.

(UNI)