Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh was accused of corruption and extortion. (file)
Mumbai:
Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case after over 12 hours of questioning at his office in Mumbai.
Mr Deshmukh, who resigned from his post earlier this year amid a controversy over allegations of bribery against him, was on Friday denied relief by the Bombay High Court as he sought quashing of summons by the probe agency. appealed.
In a video statement on Monday, the 71-year-old NCP leader had said: “All allegations against me are false.”
Mr Deshmukh was accused of corruption and extortion by former Mumbai top police officer Param Bir Singh.
In a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Param Bir Singh had accused Mr Deshmukh of interfering and using the police to extort up to Rs 100 crore every month. He wrote this letter a few days after he was removed from his post under his watch over the slow progress in the Mukesh Ambani bomb case.
Mr Deshmukh had said that there were some “unforgivable” lapses in the security investigation of Mukesh Ambani under the police chief.
Even as the NCP leader rubbished the charges and threatened a defamation case over claims of bribery, the allegations created a major political storm in the state amid demands for his resignation by opposition leaders.
Now, the former top cop is also missing and a lookout notice has already been issued against him. He has also been accused of extortion and many cases are registered against him.
Mr. Deshmukh on Monday reprimanded the former top cop: “Where is Param Bir Singh, who leveled the allegations against me? Today the officers of Param Bir Singh’s own department and several businessmen have filed their complaints against him.”
On Sunday, the CBI made the first arrest in a bribery case involving the former minister.
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