In what could be a big shock, Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) leader and former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate(ED) after grilling him for long hours. The arrest was made over a money laundering case in which he is facing allegations. It is known that he had to leave his position owing to the allegations of taking bribes.
Anil Deshmukh is accused of directing the Police department to extort massive amounts of Rs 100 crore every month. The alleged extortion row came to light after former Police Commissioner of Mumbai Param Bir Singh raised the allegations and wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Anil Deshmukh was arrested after a long questioning session. Before grilling him, the Enforcement Directorate is said to have conducted raids at the premises in Mumbai and Nagpur which are said to have belonged to Anil Deshmukh. It has been widely reported that Anil Deshmukh was arrested under the provisions of the 19th section of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 19.
Anil Deshmukh saw himself in the middle of the deep troubles earlier in March this year following the sensational Mukesh Ambani bomb scare incident. Former Mumbai Commissioner Param Bir Singh who was removed from his post in connection with the case has written to the Chief Minister saying that he is reportedly extorting money from the Police department.
As an after-effect of the allegations, Anil Deshmukh had stepped down from his post on the 5th of April. Going by the court orders, the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) had stepped into the issue and probed the matter. After the Central Bureau of Investigation filed its FIR in connection with the case, the ED had issued an ECIR on the grounds of indulging in corruption.
When he appeared before the Enforcement Directorate(ED) in connection with the case, former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh took potshots at Param Bir Singh for not showing up before the office for questioning. He asked, Param Bir Singh, who raised allegations against me, is not present here. A lot of complaints were filed against him by the police department, he said.