Mumbai: Former Maharashtra Home Minister, Anil Deshmukh has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after more than 13 hours of interrogation at their office here in an alleged money-laundering case. Deshmukh, 72, had reached the ED office on Monday afternoon at around 12 PM for a probe into the allegations of Rs.100 crore extortion leveled by former Mumbai Police Commissioner, Param Bir Singh.
The senior NCP leader was there at the ED office till over 12 am and around 1:30 PM he was taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Earlier this year, Deshmukh had to step down from his post following the row over bribery allegations against him.
We cooperated in the investigation related to a case involving Rs 4.5 crores…We will oppose his remand when he is produced before the court, today: Inderpal Singh, lawyer of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in Mumbai pic.twitter.com/xgfLxWV0E3
— ANI (@ANI) November 1, 2021
The BJP state President, Chandrakant Patil has welcomed the move saying that “actually, Deshmukh had no options left” but to appear before the ED as he realized that the long arms of the law will ultimately catch up with him.
Here is your 10-point cheat-sheet to this story
- Deshmukh’s arrest came a day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) nabbed a middleman Santosh Jagtap from Thane, who was an alleged conduit in the corruption deals and evading arrest.
- “I respect the courts… I have voluntarily decided to come to the ED for the probe. But I want to ask where is Param Bir Singh who leveled the false allegations against me,” said Deshmukh in a recorded statement before he went to the central agency accompanied by his lawyer.
- Whenever he received the ED summons — at least five — in the past, he had promptly responded pointing out that his case was sub-judice before the courts concerned.
- Even for the two CBI notices, he has immediately replied citing the same reasons, and said even now his matter is pending before the Supreme Court.
- Deshmukh came under a cloud in April 2020 after Param Bir Singh’s letter to the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray alleging that he (Deshmukh) had set a Rs 100-crore collection target for the former dismissed cop, Sachin Vaze.
- Deshmukh had moved to the Bombay High Court but got no relief as the HC refused to quash the ED summons and directed him to appear before the agency.
- The case is pending before the Supreme Court, even as the agencies have summoned his wife Aarti and their son Hrishikesh for probes.
- The ED has also attached portions of his properties worth Rs 4.20 crore.
- Deshmukh questioned the whereabouts of Param Bir Singh. “He made the bribery allegations against me but where is he now”, asked the NCP leader.
- Denying any wrongdoing, the former Maharashtra minister had claimed that Singh leveled the allegations against him after he was removed from the post of Mumbai Police chief.
