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Ex-Maharashtra min Anil Deshmukh played role in cops’ transfers, postings: Secretary to ED
Former home minister Anil Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande has in his statement to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said that the politician had a role in the transfers and postings of police officers, especially those of the Indian Police Service (IPS) rank, during his tenure
Former home minister Anil Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande has in his statement to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said that the politician had a role in the transfers and postings of police officers, especially those of the Indian Police Service (IPS) rank, during his tenure.
Appealing for the further custody of Palande and Deshmukh’s personal assistant Kundan Shinde on this ground, ED in the remand application said on Thursday that it wants to interrogate the duo in the alleged money laundering case linked to the purported bribe racket that the former home minister used to carry out with the help of dismissed cop Sachin Vaze.
Following this, a special Prevention of Money Laundering Court (PMLA) court remanded the two accused to ED’s custody till July 6.
Palande and Shinde were arrested by the agency on June 26.
ED has also stated that Palande has admitted that a meeting was held on March 4 with police officers in which a discussion over imposing Covid-19 restrictions on bars had taken place.
Special public prosecutor for ED, Sunil Gonsalves, while seeking the accused’s further custody, submitted before the court that during the meetings on transfer of police officers, an ‘unofficial list’ used to be prepared and the agency needs to question the duo on it. He further submitted that, during the investigation, names of the some ministers and other persons have been revealed, who had played a role in the transfer of police officers, and therefore, a detailed interrogation of the accused is necessary as they either attended those meetings or have knowledge on the same.
In the various petitions filed against Deshmukh in the Bombay high court, several allegations were made over his involvement in the cash-for-transfer racket. The Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) is also investigating on it and has filed a case against Deshmukh.
On Thursday, Gonsalves submitted that the ‘bribery scam’ is worth ₹100 crore. As the transactions were made in cash, it is therefore necessary to find the money trail as well as whether the said proceeds of crime were used for acquisition of property by way of money laundering, ED said.
However, Palande’s lawyer submitted that March 4, a sessions of the Assembly was on, and as the home minister, Deshmukh had to attend and discuss with all the officers concerned to reply to questions in the legislature. Therefore, the said meetings cannot be connected with the alleged allegation of transfer of IPS officers, he said. He further submitted that the prosecution is placing wrong facts before the court as it is the chief minister and not the home minister who has the power to transfer officers of IPS cadre.
On the cash transfers, the defence argued that there is no material evidence on the accused’s involvement. The lawyer further submitted that investigation agencies are placing contradictory facts and are trying to implicate the accused on the basis of hearsay.
Shinde’s lawyer submitted that none of the arguments placed before the court is true but is a “concocted story”. He submitted that Palande is an additional collector appointed as a personal secretary of the home minister by the government and was only performing the duties assigned by the administration department of the state government.
ED informed the court that the two accused are the key personnel, deeply and directly involved, and in-charge of the affairs of Deshmukh and others. During their custodial interrogation, they have failed to provide satisfactory answers regarding utilisation, concealment and trail of proceeds of crime.
“They have been giving evasive replies in their statements and are trying to delay the course of investigation. At the same time, [them] delaying the appearance of suspected persons before the investigating officer appears to be with malicious intentions to hamper the investigation,” ED stated.
“The accused have played a very crucial role in the offence of money laundering and both are influential persons having connections with highly-placed political persons, and if their further custody is not granted to the applicant, they may tamper the evidences and consequently hamper the PMLA investigation being conducted by the applicant,” ED informed the court while seeking further custody of the accused.
ED has issued summons to various suspects/witnesses connected to both the accused to appear before the investigating officer during the duo’s custody. They are expected to join the investigation. ED wishes to confront the two accused with various suspects/witnesses to establish the money trail and unearth the proceeds of crime.
The agency said that during the duo’s custody, their homes were searched again and some incriminating documents and electronic gadgets were seized. The central agency is also seeking call records and electronic evidence available with other law enforcing agencies to confront the accused with it.
ED has previously claimed to have found that Vaze had collected ₹4.7 crore from various owners in Mumbai for “the smooth functioning of the bars”. Later, through hawala channels, this money was sent to two brothers in Delhi, who operated bogus companies, said the agency. It claimed that the brothers, at behest of Deshmukh’s kin, diverted this money as donations to Nagpur-based Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan, a trust controlled by the ex-minister’s family.
The defence argued that Shinde has no power in the management of the trust and that the ₹4.7 crore mentioned by ED is actually the amount of an unsecured loan obtained by the trust. The defence claimed that these facts are being suppressed by the investigating agency.
ED said that while collecting money from the bar owners, Vaze told them that part of the money was to go to “No 1’, crime branch and the social service branch of Mumbai Police.
It has also said that when they recorded the statement of Vaze – currently in Taloja jail in connection with his alleged role in the Antilia explosives and Mansukh Hiran murder cases – he told investigators that Deshmukh had called him to his official residence and instructed him to collect ₹3 lakh from every bar and restaurant in the city. He was also given a list of the establishments.
ED has also identified 24 private entities that are directly and indirectly controlled by the Deshmukhs and found that huge sums of money had been transferred.
“From the analysis of the bank accounts of these companies, it is clear that there is no rationale for the transfers and it can thus be said that these series of transactions were meant for inflating balance sheets and layering of money from one company to other,” ED had stated.
The money laundering case against Deshmukh was registered based on a first information report (FIR) by CBI against him on April 21. CBI had started the probe after former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh alleged that Deshmukh ran an “extortion racket” in the city and had instructed some officers to collect ₹100 crore for him every month from various establishments.
Deshmukh had called the allegations false and claimed that Singh levelled the accusations only after being shunted out from Mumbai Police chief’s post for his poor handling of the Antilia explosives scare and Hiran murder cases.
