Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Sunday conducted raids at two properties of former State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in Nagpur in connection with an alleged corruption case. The raids come after Deshmukh skipped ED's summons thrice in the money laundering case, citing his 'vulnerability' to COVID-19 as the reason for non-compliance. Two separate teams of the ED began searches at Deshmukh's house in Katol town and his ancestral home at Wadvihira village near Katol at around 6 am, sources said.
On Friday, ED had provisionally attached assets worth around Rs 4.21 crore belonging to Deshmukh, his wife Aarti Deshmukh and a company, Premier Port Links Pvt. Ltd, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Earlier also, ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had carried out searches at Deshmukh and his close aide's residences in Mumbai and Nagpur. The ED registered a case against Deshmukh and others after CBI carried out a preliminary enquiry into the allegations made by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh on the orders of the Bombay High Court.
Case in brief:
Anil Deshmukh, a senior NCP leader, resigned as state home minister in April after former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh levelled corruption allegations against him in a letter written to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Singh accused Deshmukh of pressuring the police officials, including suspended cop Sachin Waze, to collect money worth Rs 100 crore from pubs and bars in Mumbai city.
On March 25, Singh filed criminal public interest litigation seeking a CBI probe against Deshmukh. Singh had initially approached the Supreme Court, alleging he was transferred after he complained to CM Thackeray and other senior leaders about the "corrupt malpractices" of Deshmukh. The apex court, terming the matter as quite serious, asked him to approach the Bombay High court. Pronouncing the judgement in the PIL filed by Singh, the High court directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary investigation into the corruption allegations against Deshmukh. The CBI registered a case against Deshmukh on April 21 after they found enough evidence to proceed with a regular case against him.
Read: Bombay HC reserves judgement on Anil Deshmukh's plea, asks CBI to submit report
