Anil Deshmukh appears before ED in Mumbai after skipping summons

Mumbai, Nov 01: Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Monday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Mumbai for questioning in a money laundering case against him after skipping several summons.

In a video, Deshmukh further claimed that a "witch-hunt" has been launched at the instance of certain "inimical interests", by people who have absolutely no credibility, honour or pride.

"A false narrative, an erroneous impression, is being created by these vested interests that I am evading or avoiding to appear before the Enforcement Directorate. Undoubtedly, such propaganda is absolutely baseless," Deshmukh said.

The NCP leader further said he has only sought a transparent, fair and an objective probe without any fear or favour. "I am keen to appear before such unbiased authorities and expose the falsity of the accusations that have been levelled against me with a fervent hope that the officers of the Enforcement Directorate shall rise up to the occasion and act in a fair manner, and also lay go rest the misgivings about my cooperation with the investigations," the letter said.

The 71-year-old had skipped at least four summons issued by the ED in the case but after the Bombay High Court last week refused to quash these summons, he appeared before the agency.

The ED case against Deshmukh, who was earlier the home minister in the MVA government, and others came after the CBI booked him in the corruption case related to allegations of bribe made by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

Meanwhile, the CBI on Sunday, October 31, 2021, made its first arrest in the bribery case involving former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh.

The agency arrested Santosh Jagtap from Thane. He has been evading the probe even after the issuance of non-bailable warrants against him last month.

The CBI had raided the premises of Jagtap, an alleged middleman, in August and also recovered Rs 9 lakh.