The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today conducted raids at former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh’s residence in Nagpur and four other locations in Mumbai in connection with a money laundering case. This is the third time when ED has raided Deshmukh.These include Deshmukh’s two residences in Mumbai’s Malabar Hill and Worli. This comes a day after the ED recorded the statement of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Raju Bhujbal in the case.
Sources also said that Bhujbal at present is the in-charge of the enforcement wing of Mumbai Police and has the social service branch under his jurisdiction. The social service branch conducts checks and raids on pubs, hookah parlours, dance bars, bars, and restaurants.
The case against Deshmukh pertains to the allegations of corruption levelled by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh in March this year.
In a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Parambir Singh had alleged corruption charges against Anil Deshmukh. He had also filed a petition before the Bombay High Court as well, saying Deshmukh had asked former assistant inspector Sachin Vaze to extort around Rs 100 crore a month and a majority of it had to come by targeting bars and restaurants.
Singh, in his letter, had also mentioned the name of Vaze and ACP Sanjay Patil who were allegedly asked by Deshmukh to extort money on a monthly basis especially from bars and restaurants, and the target given to them was Rs 100 crore a month.
Following this, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted a preliminary inquiry and registered an FIR against Anil Deshmukh.
Searches were then conducted at Deshmukh and his close associates’ residences. The ED had then registered a money laundering case against him and started a probe in connection with the case.
