A team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday questioned former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh inside Arthur Road jail, in connection with the corruption case registered by the agency against him. The CBI's move to question Deshmukh came after they had carried out searches at Nagpur in Mumbai at the premises of people, including chartered accountants linked with Deshmukh, last month.
On Tuesday, a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court had allowed CBI to question Deshmukh, lodged at Arthur Road jail, between March 3 and March 5, in presence of a jail official. The court had also allowed CBI's deputy SP Mukesh Kumar, investigating officer Alok Kumar Singh and assistant investigating officer Saubik Kumar to visit the jail and also carry with them necessary electronic devices to record Deshmukh’s statement.
According to the sources, the CBI team visited the jail around 10:30 am and had continued to question Deshmukh till around 5 pm. Sources said that the CBI's questioning with Deshmukh was related to corruption allegations against Deshmukh related to extortion from bar owners, transfer and posting of police officers in Maharashtra, reinstatement of Sachin Vaze in the police force and why important cases were being handed over to Vaze.
Last month, after seeking court permission, the CBI team had record statements of Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde (arrested by the ED in a money laundering case involving Deshmukh).
In October last year, the CBI had arrested one Santosh Jagtap, a resident of Thane in the corruption case. A Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) was also issued against him by the court. In August, a CBI team had conducted searches at Jagtap’s premises and had also seized Rs 9 lakh. The investigation had indicated that Jagtap played the role of a middleman in the transfer and postings of officials.
On April 21, last year, CBI had registered a corruption-related case against Deshmukh and others on the basis of allegations levelled by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.
In a letter written to the chief minister and others on March 20, Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had instructed some Mumbai police officers, including dismissed assistant inspector Sachin Vaze, to collect an amount of Rs 100 crore every month from bar owners in the city.
Enforcement Directorate (ED), who had later registered a money laundering case based on CBI's FIR, had claimed that on Deshmukh’s instructions, Vaze had called a meeting of some orchestra bar owners and demanded Rs 3 lakh each from them.
ED had also claimed in its charge sheet against Palande and Shinde, that Vaze, had collected Rs 4.7 crore from orchestra bar owners between December 2020 and February 2021 and had handed over the extorted money to Kundan Shinde in two instalments.
