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New Delhi: The Central Bureau Of Investigation has taken former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh into its custody Wednesday, April 6.
Mumbai | CBI takes former Home Minister of Maharashtra, Anil Deshmukh in their custody from Arthur Road Jail where he is currently lodged. The central agency had lodged a case of extortion against him. He will be produced before CBI Court shortly.
(File photo) pic.twitter.com/MepfMLkykp
— ANI (@ANI) April 6, 2022
This comes after the Bombay High Court refused to hear the plea of Deshmukh challenging a special court order allowing the CBI to take him into custody in connection with its probe into corruption allegations against him.
The court directed that the plea be placed before another bench. After the court’s order, the investigative agency took Deshmukh into their custody from Arthur Road Jail where he is currently lodged. The central agency had lodged a case of extortion against him. He will be produced before CBI Court today.
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 PalandeVaz 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.
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 ₹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. On Deshmukh’s instructions, Vaze allegedly called a meeting of Mumbai bar owners, and collected ₹4.7 crore from them between December 2020 and February 2021 to ‘avoid’ police interference.
In his statement to the ED, Vaze revealed that he handed over the “extorted money” in two instalments to Kundan Shinde.
On June 26 last year, ED arrested Shinde and Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande, and on August 23, filed a charge sheet against them. Vaze is also an accused in the charge sheet.
