The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday filed a charge sheet against NCP leader and former state home minister Anil Deshmukh, his personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde in the corruption case registered against them.
As per the agency’s case, Deshmukh misused his official position and collected bribes through controversial policeman Sachin Vaze from resto-bars in the city to permit them to function with relaxed timings during the pandemic-induced lockdown. His aides helped him with the collections by passing his instructions to Vaze and collecting the ill-gotten cash. Deshmukh also indulged in corruption to give favourable transfer postings to high-ranking police officials, the agency alleges.
On Wednesday, a special CBI court had Vaze to become its prosecution witness or approver. This was done after his plea to become a prosecution witness and assist the prosecution with his testimony in court against the other accused. He had also sought a tender of pardon, which the court had granted subject to conditions that he makes disclosure of all facts in court during the trial.
While the CBI had registered the case against him in April last year, it arrested him after a year in April this year. The CBI’s case as a result of a Bombay High court order on PILs seeking a CBI probe on him, after allegations made against him by shunted former city police commissioner Param Bir Singh. Deshmukh was already in judicial custody in a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) when he was arrested by the CBI in the present case. Vaze, Palande and Shinde had also been taken into custody for interrogation.
