ED raids ex-home minister Anil Deshmukh's premises in Nagpur, Mumbai

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted searches at the premises of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in Nagpur and Mumbai as part of a money laundering probe against him officials saidThey said the raids are being carried out under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA and the locations include Deshmukhs residence in NagpurIt was not known if Deshmukh 71 was available at the premisesThe central probe agency had registered a criminal case under the antimoney laundering law against Deshmukh and others last month after studying a CBI FIRThe ED case came about after the CBI first carried out a preliminary enquiry followed by filing a regular case on the orders of the Bombay High Court that asked it to look into the allegations of bribery made against Deshmukh by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir SinghOfficials said the search teams are looking for additional evidence that can be important for their probeThe agencys probe is focused on the allegation that illicit funds were generated in the transfer posting of police personnel in Maharashtra and if illegal extortion was done by the cops as claimed by Singh in his complaintThe ED has powers to attach assets of the accused during the investigation stage and later file charge sheets against them before a PMLA court for trialSingh was shunted out from the prime post after the role of policeman Sachin Waze surfaced during investigation of the explosiveladen SUV that was found parked near industrialist Mukesh Ambanis house in MumbaiIn his letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray after he was removed from the Police Commissioners post Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had asked Waze to extort over Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants of MumbaiDeshmukh a politician of the NCP was the home minister of the state in the MVA government headed by Thackeray He had resigned in April after these allegations were made against himThe CBI booked Deshmukh and others under Indian Penal Code IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and section of Prevention of Corruption Act for attempt to obtain undue advantage for improper and dishonest performance of public dutyThe preliminary enquiry prima facie revealed that a cognisable offence is made out in the matter wherein the then home minister of Maharashtra Shri Anil Deshmukh and unknown others have attempted to obtain undue advantage for improper and dishonest performance of their public duty the CBI FIR had allegedThe CBI enquiry found Waze assistant inspector of Mumbai Police had been reinstated into the police force after being out of service for more than 15 yearsWaze was entrusted with some of the most sensational and important cases of Mumbai city and Deshmukh was in knowledge of the said fact the CBI FIR allegedIt alleged that Deshmukh and others exercised undue influence over the transfer and posting of officials and thereby exercising undue influence over the performance of official duties by the officials it claimedAfter registering the FIR on April 21 the CBI had also carried out searches in Mumbai and Nagpur at premises linked to the former minister who had resigned after the high court had ordered a CBI probe against him in connection with this caseThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever