Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh | ANI
Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Monday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here for questioning in a money laundering case, officials said.
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They said the federal probe agency will record the statement of the 71-year-old NCP leader under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the criminal investigation being carried out by it in the alleged Rs 100 crore bribery-cum-extortion racket in the Maharashtra Police establishment that led to Deshmukh's resignation in April.
Deshmukh had skipped at least four summons issued by the ED in the case but after the Bombay High Court last week refused to quash these summons, he appeared before the agency.
Meanwhile, the agency on Sunday, arrested Santosh Jagtap, a 'wheeler dealer' from Thane under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act .
It is alleged that Jagtap was engaged in transfers and postings of government officials. The agency has issued summons to Jagtap to join the probe but he ignored them repeatedly. Thereafter, the CBI knocked the doors of the court, secured a non-bailable warrant against him, and arrested him.
What is the Anil Deshmukh money laundering case?
The ED's case against him and others was made out after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) first carried out a preliminary enquiry followed by a regular case being filed on the orders of the Bombay High Court.
The court had asked the CBI to look into the allegations of bribery made against Anil Deshmukh by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh.
It was alleged that Deshmukh allegedly told some police officers to collect Rs 100 crore every month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai. Earlier, the agency had also raided premises of Deshmukh in Mumbai and Nagpur.
Anil Deshmukh, who resigned from his post in April following the allegations, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
The ED had earlier arrested Anil Deshmukh''s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde after carrying out raids against them and the NCP leader in Mumbai and Nagpur.
The probe agency last month also attached assets worth Rs 4.20 crore of Anil Deshmukh and his family.
(With agency inputs)
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