CBI quizzes Anil Deshmukh for 11 hours in corruption case

Responding to summons issued by CBI, AnilDeshmukh reached the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) guest house at Santacruz (East) shortly after 10am on Wednesday.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday questioned former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh for about 11 hours over allegations of corruption levelled against him by former Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh.

CBI issued the summons to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader on April 12 as part of its preliminary enquiry registered on April 6 (ANI)

Responding to summons issued by CBI, Deshmukh reached the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) guest house at Santacruz (East) shortly after 10am on Wednesday. CBI officers said Deshmukh was questioned about the allegations, and his statement was recorded. They declined to give details of the statement or the line of questioning.

CBI issued the summons to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader on April 12 as part of its preliminary enquiry registered on April 6, a day after the Bombay high court directed the central agency to probe “serious” allegations against Deshmukh. He stepped down from the post of home minister shortly after the court’s decision.

Param Bir Singh, in a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray last month, alleged that Deshmukh told now suspended police officer Sachin Vaze, arrested in connection with Mukesh Ambani security threat case, to collect ₹100 crore a month from bars, restaurants, hotels, and other sources, in Mumbai.

The letter came in the aftermath of an explosives-laden vehicle being found near Ambani’s house Antilia, the arrest of Vaze for allegedly planting the vehicle, the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran who was linked to the vehicle, and the removal of Singh as Mumbai’s police commissioner.

The federal agency has so far questioned Deshmukh’s personal assistant Sanjeev Palande, his personal secretary Kundan Shinde, deputy commissioner of police (enforcement) Raju Bhujbal, assistant commissioner of police (social service branch) Sanjay Patil, Vaze, Param Bir Singh, and two police drivers attached to the criminal intelligence unit (CIU) of the Mumbai Police’s crime branch.

CBI has also questioned some bar owners over the extortion charges