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Maharashtra minister Anil Parab appears before ED
Nagpur’s deputy regional transport officer Bajrang Kharmate, who was questioned by the ED in Anil Deshmukh money laundering case earlier, is considered a close aide to Anil Parab
Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra minister Anil Parab on Tuesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Mumbai for questioning in connection with the bribery and money laundering case against former home minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh.
“I will answer all their questions and fully cooperate with them. So far, it is not clear regarding which case I have been summoned... I have not done anything wrong...,” said Parab.
In its charge-sheet against Deshmukh’s two arrested aides, the ED said dismissed assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze, in his statement, claimed Parab allegedly received crores of rupees through Nagpur’s deputy regional transport officer Bajrang Kharmate as bribe for transfers of 10 police officers in Mumbai last year. The ED earlier questioned Kharmate for seven-and-a-half hours. Kharmate is believed to be a close aide to Parab. His name surfaced in the case following statements of some witnesses in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act case against Deshmukh.
ED this month raided places linked to Kharmate in Pune and Nagpur and also recorded statements of witnesses.
The money laundering case against Deshmukh was registered after the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a First Information Report against him on April 21. Deshmukh has denied allegations against him as false.
Deshmukh is accused of misusing his position as Maharashtra home minister and allegedly collecting ₹4.7 crore from Mumbai’s bars for their “smooth functioning”. The money was later allegedly sent to two brothers in Delhi who operated bogus companies, said the agency. The agency claimed that the two later diverted the money as donations to Nagpur-based Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan, an educational trust controlled by the Deshmukhs.
