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ED arrests two Deshmukh aides in money laundering case
The two were due to be produced in a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Saturday.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh’s personal secretary, Sanjeev Palande, and assistant, Kundan Shinde, in connection with the money laundering case the agency is probing against the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader.
The two were due to be produced in a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Saturday.
They were arrested after ED questioned them for hours till late Friday in Mumbai.
ED officials said the accused were allegedly aware of the illegal money transactions that the agency claims to have traced to Deshmukh.
The ED claimed that it has traced the trail of ₹4 crore allegedly collected by dismissed assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze from some bar and restaurants owners in Mumbai. This amount was allegedly sent to companies allegedly directly linked to Deshmukh’s kin.
Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya tweeted on Saturday: “#Vaze #Vasooli case #AnilDeshmukh Secrataries Sanjeev Palande & Kundan Shinde arrested by ED today. I am sure Anil Deshmukh will be arrested in next few days.”
On Friday, the anti-money laundering agency raided five places including Deshmukh’s residences in Mumbai and Nagpur.
Deshmukh again denied all the allegations levelled against him, calling them false.
Former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh has accused Deshmukh of ordering policemen to collect ₹100 crore from businesses in Mumbai. The allegation forced Deshmukh to resign as the state home minister.
Deshmukh maintained Singh levelled the accusation against him after the latter was removed as the commissioner for his poor handling of the bomb scare outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house. He said he is cooperating with ED, which is expected to summon him for questioning.
The money laundering case against Deshmukh was filed based on the First Information Report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on April 21.
The CBI started the probe against Deshmukh after Singh wrote a letter to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in March and made the allegations. The letter mentioned Palande as well.
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