DELHI/MUMBAI: In what may further escalate tension between BJP and NCP following drug controversy involving Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan, Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested former Maharashtra home minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh after questioning him for over 12 hours in connection with a money laundering probe.
According to top ED sources, Deshmukh has been arrested by the financial probe agency under section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). ALSO READ: ‘Will Drop A Bomb After Diwali’: Devendra Fadnavis Threatens To Expose Nawab Malik’s Underworld Links
Deshmukh had arrived at the ED office here on Monday morning. He and his son Hrishikesh had skipped several summons issued by the financial probe agency.
ED sources said that he was arrested as he was not cooperating in the probe and was evasive on several questions.
The ED had earlier also filed 4,500 page charge sheet in the case against Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde on August 23 this year.
ED had arrested Palande and Shinde after carrying out searches against them and the NCP leader in Mumbai and Nagpur.
ED has also attached properties to the tunenof Rs 4.2 crore of Deshmukh under PMLA.
ED had registered a case earlier this year on the basis of the case registered by the CBI over the allegations of corruption and misuse of his office.
Deshmukh has been accused of extortion from a bunch of Mumbai orchestra bars and of money laundering.
It has been alleged that Rs 4.7 crore was collected as “extortion” from the orchestra bars by the now-dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze allegedly on Deshmukh’s instructions. Later, this amount was transferred to Deshmukh’s Nagpur-based educational trust by his son, Hrishikesh.
According to the allegation, the transaction was routed via two hawala operators and was showed as a “donation”. The 71-year-old NCP leader is the president of the trust and his two sons, Salil and Hrishikesh, are trustees.
On May 11, a case was registered against the former minister and on June 25, the ED raided Deshmukh’s residences in Nagpur, Mumbai, and three other places.
In April, the CBI had conducted raids at four premises of Deshmukh after registering an FIR against him in connection with the case.
Param Bir Singh, former Commissioner of Mumbai Police, in his letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, had alleged that Deshmukh had indulged in “malpractices” and asked Waze to collect Rs 100 crore every month.