ED raids former Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh’s premises

Enforcement Directorate sleuths on Friday (June 25) conducted raids at the houses of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in Nagpur and Mumbai as part of probe into money laundering charges against him.

The officials said the raids are being carried out under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Also read: Facing CBI probe, Anil Deshmukh resigns as Maharashtra minister

The ED had filed a criminal case under the Act against Deshmukh, 71, and others last month after studying a recent CBI FIR.

The 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 Singh.

Singh in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had alleged that Deshmukh used to ask police to collect money from restaurants and bar owners in Mumbai. He also said that Deshmukh gave former assistant inspector Sachin Vaze and ACP Sanjay Patil a target to collect ₹100 crore per month.

While Deshmukh had refuted the allegations, he had quit his post after the high court’s order.