CBI to take Anil Deshmukh, Sachin Vaze in custody

The PMLA court directed the Arthur Road jail superintendent to hand over the custody of Anil Deshmukh, Palande and Shinde to CBI

Mumbai: A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Friday allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take custody of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, his personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde. Meanwhile, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court also allowed the central agency to take dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Vaze in custody in connection with a corruption case registered against Deshmukh.

CBI on Friday moved the special PMLA court and special NIA court, seeking permission to arrest them in connection with the corruption case registered against Anil Deshmukh (Hindustan Times)

The PMLA court directed the Arthur Road jail superintendent to hand over the custody of Deshmukh, Palande and Shinde to the central agency. The NIA court issued similar directives to the superintendent of Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai where Vaze is lodged.

Vaze, 50, was arrested by NIA on March 13, 2021, in connection with the Antilia explosives scare and connected murder of Thane-based car accessories shop owner Mansukh Hiran, while Deshmukh, 72, has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case against him, his son Hrishikesh and others.

CBI had on Thursday secured a production warrant to arrest the four. On the strength of the warrant, the agency on Friday moved the special PMLA court and special NIA court, seeking permission to arrest them in connection with the corruption case registered against Anil Deshmukh on April 21, 2021.

The CBI case is based on the allegations of corruption levelled by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh. In a letter written to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on March 20, 2021, Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had instructed certain Mumbai police officers, including assistant inspector Sachin Vaze, to collect an amount of ₹100 crore every month from Mumbai’s restaurants and bars.

ED has registered a money laundering case against Deshmukh, his son Hrishikesh and others. On Deshmukh’s instructions, Vaze had allegedly called a meeting of bar owners, and between December 2020 and February 2021, collected ₹4.7 crore from the owners of orchestra bars in Mumbai to avoid police interference. In his statement to the ED, Vaze had revealed that he had handed over the “extorted money” in two instalments to Kundan Shinde.

On June 26, ED had arrested Shinde and Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande in the money laundering case, and on August 23, filed a charge sheet against them. Vaze is also an accused in the charge sheet.