By Kumar P. K
Mumbai: Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED)in the early hours of Tuesday in connection with the alleged Rs 100-crore extortion and money laundering case.
He will be produced before the court today where the ED will be seeking his custodial remand.
Anil Deshmukh, who appeared before ED for the first time on Monday after skipping multiple summons, was arrested by the agency in the early hours of Tuesday in connection with the alleged Rs 100-crore extortion and money laundering case.
According to an ED official, the NCP leader was arrested after 12 hours of questioning at the central agency office in Mumbai on Monday.
According to the official Deshmukh(71), was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as they claimed that the senior NCP leader was evasive during questioning and the agency will seek his custody after they produce him before a local court on Tuesday.
"We cooperated in the investigation related to a case involving Rs 4.5 crore. We will oppose his (Anil Deshmukh) remand when he is produced before the court today," Inderpal Singh, the lawyer of Deshmukh told reporters.
The former minister arrived at the ED office to join the investigation in extortion and money laundering allegations against him on Monday.
"Today, I have presented myself before the Enforcement Directorate. Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh made false allegations against me. Where is he today? As per media reports, he has left the country," Deshmukh said in a video.
On Friday, Bombay high court rejected former Anil Deshmukhs petition challenging the ED summons for him to appear before the agency.
ED filed a case against Deshmukh and others after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) booked him in a corruption case related to allegations made by former Mumbai Police commissioner Singh.
Singh alleged, in a letter to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray after he was removed from the police commissioners post, that Deshmukh asked Waze to extort over Rs 100 crore monthly from bars and restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai.
However, Deshmukh denied any wrongdoing and said that Singh made the allegations against him after he was removed from the post of Mumbai Police chief.
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