CBI custody of Anil Deshmukh, Waze extended till April 16

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Monday extended till April 16 the custody of former home minister Anil Deshmukh, his personal secretary Sanjeev Palande, personal assistant Kundan Shinde, and dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze - all arrested in connection with the corruption case registered against him

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Monday extended till April 16 the custody of former home minister Anil Deshmukh, his personal secretary Sanjeev Palande, personal assistant Kundan Shinde, and dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze - all arrested in connection with the corruption case registered against him.

Former home minister Anil Deshmukh HT File Photo

CBI arrested the 73-year-old Nationalist Congress Party leader on April 6 from Arthur Road jail, whereas the other three were taken into custody on April 4 - also from Arthur Road and Taloja jails.

On Monday, CBI produced them before the special court and sought extension of their custody for five more days, claiming that they did not reveal anything during the earlier remand.

“The accused have been interrogated at length and have been confronted with other accused and witnesses, but they have not come out with complete truth and have mostly remained evasive to the facts relevant to the case,” CBI claimed in its remand application.

Advocate Vikram Chaudhari, appearing for Deshmukh, said he was not bound to answer the questions put forth to him by the interrogators and he had a fundamental right to remain silent.

Shinde’s lawyer Prashant Pawar and Shekhar Jagtap, representing Palande, said the allegation of corruption was against Deshmukh and the offence claimed by CBI was not committed by any of the two.

Raunak Naik for Waze consented to CBI’s demand for further custody saying he was a police officer himself and knew the importance of custodial interrogation.

CBI had registered the corruption case against Deshmukh on April 21, 2021, based on allegations levelled by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

In a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on March 20, 2021, Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had instructed certain Mumbai police officers, including Waze, to collect ₹100 crore every month from Mumbai’s restaurants and bars.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also registered a money-laundering case against Deshmukh, his son Hrishikesh, and others on the basis of the April 2021 FIR.

ED, in its probe, has already found out that on Deshmukh’s instructions, Waze had allegedly called a meeting of bar owners, and between December 2020 and February 2021, collected ₹4.7 crore from owners of orchestra bars in Mumbai. In his statement to ED, Waze had revealed that he had handed over the “extorted money” in two instalments to Kundan Shinde.

Shinde and Palande were arrested by ED on June 26, 2021, in the money-laundering case. On August 23, the agency filed a chargesheet that also named Waze, the prime accused in the Antilia explosives scare and Mansukh Hiran murder case, as an accused in the case.

Apart from the allegations of corruption in the FIR, Deshmukh has been charged with taking undue advantage of his post, the issues pertaining to reinstatement of Waze, and the purported corruption in transfers and postings of police officers in Maharashtra.