Anil Deshmukh Reaches DRDO Guest House; CBI Begins Questioning
CBI has recorded the statements of Param Bir Singh, Sachin Waze, and many others involved in the case.
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Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday, 14 April, reached the DRDO guest house where a team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI ) will question him regarding the allegations of corruptions levelled against him by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.
CBI had issued summons on Monday after the Bombay High Court last week directed the central agency to conduct a fair preliminary inquiry into the allegations levelled against Deshmukh.
The central agency has already recorded the statements of Param Bir Singh, Sachin Waze, Deputy Commissioner of Police Raju Bhujbal, Assistant Commissioner of Police Sanjay Patil, advocate Jayshree Patil and a hotel owner Mahesh Shetty.
What Happened?
Mumbai Police top cop Sachin Vaze was arrested in connection with the scare caused by explosives in a parked car near Mukesh Ambani’s residence, as well as with the death of Mansukh Hiren – the owner of the said car.
Vaze submitted a handwritten letter before a Mumbai court on Wednesday, 7 April, accusing former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Transport Minister Anil Parab, and others of pressuring him to extort money from the contractors of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and illegal tobacco factories and bars in the city.
Involvement of Param Bir Singh
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, in a letter written to CM Uddhav Thackeray, alleged that Sachin Vaze who was heading the Crime Intelligence Unit of the Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police was called by “Deshmukh, to his official residence Dyaneshwar several times in last few months and repeatedly instructed to assist in collection of funds for the Home Minister.”
“The Home Minister told Vaze that there are about 1,750 bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai and if a sum of Rs 2-3 lakhs each was collected from each of them, a monthly collection of Rs 40-50 crores was achievable. The Home Minister added that the rest of the collection could be made from other sources,” Param Bir Singh had further claimed.
PIL filed by Advocate Jayshri Patil
The Bombay High Court on 5 April ordered the CBI to conduct a preliminary enquiry into the allegations levelled against Deshmukh, and to submit a report within 15 days based on the PIL filed by Advocate Jayshri Patil.
Meanwhile, Deshmukh had denied all the allegations and moved the Supreme court against the Bombay High Court’s order demanding probe into the matter. However, the Supreme Court did not give any relief to Deshmukh.
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