Published On : Mon, Nov 1st, 2021
National News / News 2 | By Nagpur Today Nagpur News

CBI arrests Thane resident in corruption case against Anil Deshmukh

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a Thane resident, Santosh Jagtap, on Sunday in connection with a corruption case in which former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh is being probed. This is the first arrest in the case by CBI.

The agency had earlier conducted a search at Jagtap’s house and found cash worth ₹9 lakh.

“He was avoiding CBI’s summons and was arrested on Sunday morning from his residence,” said a CBI officer. Jagtap was produced in the court and remanded in CBI custody till November 4.

The agency had registered a first information report (FIR) against Deshmukh on April 21, a month after former Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh’s alleged that the ex-minister had directed police officers to extort ₹100 crore a month from Mumbai’s hotel and bars.

Soon after the case was registered, the agency had conducted searches at Deshmukh’s residences and office premises in several places, including Mumbai and Nagpur. Later, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also registered a money laundering case against Deshmukh, and till now, have sent many summons to him to join the investigation but he has not appeared before the agency.

ED had claimed that its probe suggests that Deshmukh misused his position as Maharashtra home minister, and through assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze – who has now been dismissed and is in Taloja jail for his alleged role in the Antilia explosives scare and Mansukh Hiran murder cases – collected ₹4.7 crore from Mumbai’s bars for their “smooth functioning”.

In the same corruption case, the agency is also probing the alleged scam in police postings and transfers. The allegations came to light after then commissioner of state intelligence Rashmi Shukla had written to the sitting director general of police (DGP) Subodh Jaiswal last year, stating that her personnel had intercepted communications of several persons who were purportedly engaged in the postings of senior police officers in exchange for money. In the conversation, several people, including politicians, Indian Police Service (IPS) officers and middlemen, were allegedly involved.

CBI had registered another case and arrested Deshmukh’s lawyer Anand Daga and its own sub-inspector Abhishek Tiwari in September first week. The agency claimed that Tiwari was in the investigation team of the preliminary inquiry order by the Bombay high court in March after Singh made the ₹100-crore corruption allegations against Deshmukh. Tiwari allegedly came in contact with Daga, who handed over him a high-end phone as illegal gratification for providing details related to the inquiry, thereby causing improper performance of public duty.

The FIR was registered on September 1 after the contents of the agency’s probe report, purportedly giving clean chit to Deshmukh, appeared in the media and tweeted by politicians. After the report was leaked, the Opposition had questioned why a case was registered against him when the preliminary inquiry suggested that there is no evidence against him.

Tiwari is suspected to have taken bribes from Deshmukh’s team for allegedly manipulating the report, said another CBI officer.

The agency had also questioned Deshmukh’s son-in-law, but he was later let off.