Hours after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested its own sub-inspector, Abhishek Tiwari, for allegedly taking bribe to give a clean chit to former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in a corruption case, the agency on Thursday placed under arrest Deshmukh’s Nagpur-based lawyer Anand Daga.
Daga, along with Deshmukh’s son-in-law Gaurav Chaturvedi, were questioned on Wednesday night regarding the leakage of the agency’s preliminary inquiry report against Deshmukh. The leaked report said that the CBI found no substance in the corruption allegations against Deshmukh. The CBI said that its lower rung official was bribed to influence the preliminary inquiry against Deshmukh. Hours later, the agency arrested Tiwari, while Daga continued to be interrogated. The CBI allowed Chaturvedi to leave, saying he had no role in the matter.
Yesterday, Daga and Sub-Inspector Tiwari were brought to the CBI headquarters in New Delhi on a transit remand and produced in court, which remanded them in the agency’s custody for two days. “We will question the two regarding how the preliminary inquiry report on Deshmukh was influenced, the bribe details, and possible involvement of others in the matter,” a CBI official said.
The CBI teams also conducted searches in Allahabad and New Delhi in connection with the bribery case.
ALLEGATIONS AGAINST DESHMUKH
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh alleged that then home minister, Deshmukh, had asked police officer (now dismissed) Sachin Waze to extort Rs 100 crore from bar owners in the city every month. Deshmukh also repeated the demand after calling DCP Raju Bhujbal and ACP Sanjay Patil at his official residence.
The CBI is also investigating a report of the former chief of State Intelligence Department, Rashmi Shukla, where she had recorded the phone conversation of some influential persons who were promising desired posting to police officers, including IPS, in exchange for money.
Based on the CBI FIR, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also registered a money laundering case against Deshmukh and arrested his personal secretary and personal assistant in the case. The ED officials are searching for Deshmukh from the last two months to record his statement in the case.
