File photo of Anil Deshmukh | PTI
The Enforcement Directorate is set to seek extended custody of former Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh in a money laundering case. He was arrested earlier this week. The earlier custody will end today.
The case is linked to the accusation stemming from a letter by Param Bir Singh to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in which he accused that Deshmukh has been using the police to extort up to Rs 100 crore from Mumbai's bars and restaurants every month.
Sources told NDTV that Deshmukh is not cooperating with the investigation. It is alleged that he and his family used 27 companies to launder money, and the ED needed more time to gather evidence. Deshmukh's son, Hrishikesh, was summoned by the investigation agency yesterday but did not show up.
This morning, the former minister was taken for a routine medical check-up before being presented in a PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court. Deshmukh had earlier skipped summons by ED. After being arrested on Tuesday, he was interrogated for 12 hours.
Former Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh had accused Anil Deshmukh, the ex-Maharashtra Home Minister, of corruption and extortion. Singh is also facing similar allegations in cases filed by both Mumbai Police and the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Singh is missing, and Deshmukh has questioned where the person that made allegations against him is.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik slammed Deshmukh's arrest as "politically motivated" and said that it is "aimed at scaring leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (the ruling alliance)."