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Ex-Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh's Nagpur residences searched
On May 11, the Enforcement Directorate registered a criminal case under the anti-money laundering law against the senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Deshmukh.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted search operations at the residences of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in Nagpur and Mumbai in connection with a money laundering case.
On May 11, the Enforcement Directorate registered a criminal case under the anti-money laundering law against the senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Deshmukh. It was done following the FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after suspended Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh levelled allegations of corruption against Deshmukh.
Singh wrote a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in which he alleged Deshmukh indulged in "malpractices." He also told the chief minister that Deshmukh asked Sachin Vaze, a suspended police officer, to collect ₹100 crore every month, including ₹40-50 crore from bars and restaurants in Mumbai. Vaze was suspended during the probe by National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Mukesh Ambani bomb scare case.
The CBI filed an FIR based on section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act) and criminal conspiracy (IPC 120 B). Following this, Deshmukh resigned as the state home minister.
In April, CBI also conducted searches at four premises of Deshmukh and claimed to have recovered incriminating documents and digital devices.
On May 4, Deshmukh had moved the Bombay High Court seeking the quashing of the CBI FIR against him. The court adjourned the petition and refused to give any interim protection to Deshmukh from any coercive action by the CBI.
Waze was arrested in March in connection with the NIA probe into the case of recovery of an explosives-laden SUV near Mukesh Ambani's house in Mumbai and the subsequent murder of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran.
