Five accused get bail in ED’s money laundering case against Anil Deshmukh

Special judge MG Deshpande granted bail to Anil Deshmukh’s chartered accountants Vinod Hassani and Vishal Khatwani, and Surendra Kumar Jain, Virendra Kumar Jain, Kishore Dewani

A special court has granted interim bail to five people booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh.

A file photo of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in Mumbai, India. (ANI)

Special judge M G Deshpande granted the bail to Deshmukh’s chartered accountants Vinod Hassani and Vishal Khatwani and Surendra Kumar Jain, Virendra Kumar Jain, Kishore Dewani as they appeared before the court on Wednesday. They were taken into custody and later granted interim bail on a personal bond of ₹3 lakh each. The court has posted their regular bail pleas for hearing on December 1.

ED registered the money laundering case against Deshmukh on May 11 on the basis of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s First Information Report (FIR) of April 21. The FIR was filed on the basis of allegations of corruption levelled by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

In a letter written to the chief minister on March 20, Singh alleged that Deshmukh directed certain Mumbai police officers, including dismissed officer Sachin Vaze, to collect an amount of ₹100 crore monthly from Mumbai’s hotel and bars. Deshmukh has denied the charges.