Aashwin Shanker, Mumbai Uncensored. 26th June 2021:
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday (26 June) captured two assistants of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh regarding a claimed ‘hafta’ case, authorities said here.
They are Kundan Shinde and Sanjeev Palande functioning as close to home staff members with Deshmukh, a senior leader of the NCP – Nationalist Congress Party.
ED officials said the two aides of Deshmukh were not cooperating with probing officers. The aides were quizzed for around nine hours at ED’s Ballard Estate office in Mumbai. Next, the two will be produced at a special PMLA court in Mumbai later on Saturday. Reports suggest that ED will seek custody of Deshmukh’s aides for custodial interrogation. Earlier, ED raided offices of the two men & also of Deshmukh’s in Mumbai, Nagpur. Around eight officials reached Deshmukh’s place at 7.30pm along with a CRPF team. No one was allowed to enter the house & search continued till filing of the report.
Suspected transactions worth Rs 20 crore, allegedly routed through a clutch of Kolkata-based shell companies, are at the centre of a probe by investigative agencies against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh.
These companies are mostly linked to Deshmukh’s relatives and associates, they said. The source of these funds is believed to be ‘protection money’ paid to Deshmukh, including around Rs 4 crores ‘paid’ by bar owners in Mumbai.
Deshmukh and his associates are under the scanner of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Directorate of Enforcement (ED). On Friday, the ED carried out searches at multiple locations, including Deshmukh’s residence at GPO Chowk in Nagpur.
