Enforcement Directorate summons Anil Deshmukh in money laundering case

Mumbai. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh to appear before the probe agency on Saturday for questioning in a money laundering case related to allegations of bribery worth Rs 100 crore. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader has been asked to appear before the investigating officer of the case at the ED office in Ballard Estate area here, officials said. The summons have been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and Deshmukh has been asked to appear by 11 am. The central agency had arrested Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde on Friday night.

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Earlier, the ED had raided the premises of Deshmukh, Palande and Shinde in Mumbai and Nagpur. After the raid, Palande and Shinde were brought to the ED office. The two will be produced before the special PMLA court in Mumbai on Saturday, where the ED will request their custody for questioning, officials said. The CBI had initiated a preliminary inquiry after registering a regular case on the orders of the Bombay High Court, following which Deshmukh and others were booked by the ED. Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh had leveled allegations of bribery against Deshmukh and the court directed the probe agency to probe the allegations. Deshmukh had resigned as the Home Minister of Maharashtra in April following these allegations. He has denied these allegations.

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The role of Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Waje came to the fore during the investigation into the discovery of explosive material from an SUV outside the Mumbai residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani. After this Singh was removed from his post. Waaze was also dismissed from service. After his removal from the post of police commissioner, Singh wrote to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray alleging that Deshmukh had asked Waje to collect more than Rs 100 crore in a month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai. The CBI has registered a case against Deshmukh and others under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) related to criminal conspiracy and the Prevention of Corruption Act.