After more than 12-hours of questioning, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Maharashtra’s former home minister Anil Deshmukh late Monday.
Deshmukh’s petition to have the summons issued by the ED cancelled and the agency barred from detaining him was denied by the Bombay High Court a few days later. Around 11.30 a.m., Deshmukh came before the agency.
The ED launched a money-laundering investigation after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an FIR against Deshmukh and others for allegedly seeking to earn undue advantage for the inappropriate and dishonest performance of their public duties in collecting cash to meet the Rs 100 crore objective.
The ED filed its first prosecution complaint (similar to a charge sheet) in the case against Deshmukh’s two detained aides in August.
In his testimony to the ED, dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze claims that, in addition to NCP politician Anil Deshmukh, he also received “time to time instructions” to collect bribes from state transport minister and Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab. A person who presented himself as a senior associate of Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar approached him in addition to Parab. “Collect a monthly amount of Rs 100 crore from illegal gutka sellers,” the individual said.
When questioned for proof of these assertions, Waze said the federal anti-money laundering agency that the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which had arrested Waze in connection with the Antilia bomb scare-Mansukh Hiren murder case, had retrieved relevant WhatsApp chats.
The statement was recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and it is admissible in court as evidence.
Waze claimed that on the orders of an alleged close aide of Pawar, he conducted raids on illegal gutka vendors and took legal action against factory owners. Waze alleges in his statement that the ‘aide’ “conveyed displeasure by Pawar on his action,” which is part of the ED’s prosecution complaint against Waze, two jailed Deshmukh aides, and a cache of firms tied to Deshmukh and his family members. The statement has been analysed by ET.
On Thursday, a PMLA court accepted the charge sheet, opening the route for the trial.
Deshmukh, who is being investigated by a number of authorities, including the CBI and the ED, has described the investigation as politically motivated. Even Parab has made the same assertion.
The ED has attached assets worth Rs 4.20 crore, including a residential property in Worli valued at Rs 1.54 crore and 25 land parcels in Dhutum villages in Raigarh district, Maharashtra, with a book value of Rs 2.67 crore. These assets are held in the names of Deshmukh’s wife, Aarti, and the company Premier Port Links Private Limited, according to the agency. Between January 2006 through August 2012, his son, Salil, worked as a director at the firm.
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