CBI team to reach Mumbai on Tuesday to probe Anil Deshmukh

The CBI team will probe the allegations of corruption and misuse of official position alleged by former Mumbai Police commissioner Sachin Waze against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh.

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team from Delhi, comprising half a dozen officers, will reach Mumbai on Tuesday to investigate allegations of corruption and misuse of official position against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, people familiar with the development said.

Former minister Anil Deshmukh seen outside the Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan in this file picture from March 2021. (Vidhyadhar Rane / Hindustan Times)

Deshmukh stepped down on Monday hours after the Bombay High Court ordered the central agency to look into the allegations, levelled by former Mumbai police commissioner Parambir Singh.

Singh, in a letter written to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on March 20, accused Deshmukh of asking the Mumbai Police to collect ₹100 crore per month from bars, hotels and restaurants, an allegation denied by both the minister and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

The Bombay HC has asked the central agency to complete the enquiry within 15 days after which the CBI director will take a call on the further course of action.

Officials cited above said the Delhi team will be assisted by Mumbai CBI officers as the agency has very little time to complete its preliminary enquiry (PE).

Usually, according to the CBI Crime manual, a PE is supposed to be completed in three months before it is put up before the Superintendent of Police (SP) and the branch DIG (Deputy Inspector General), after which a final call is taken whether to register a regular case (equivalent to First Information Report) or close the enquiry.

The officers, requesting anonymity, said the CBI team will record the statement of Dr Jaishri Patil, on whose plea the HC ordered a probe by the premier anti-corruption agency.

It will also record the statement of former Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh to know more about his allegations after which it will look for documentary and circumstantial evidence, if any.