A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai remanded Anil Deshmukh, the former home minister of Maharashtra, to judicial custody on Saturday, 6 November, for 14 days in a money laundering case, NDTV reported.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which had arrested the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader on 2 November, had requested to extend Deshmukh's custody with the agency for interrogation purposes.
In front of the PMLA court, the ED argued that Deshmukh (71) had refused to cooperate with the investigation, and that it needs more time to interrogate him.
The request was denied. Consequently, the court ordered that the accused be sent to judicial custody.
Deshmukh can, therefore, apply for bail.
Deshmukh was accused of corruption and extortion by Param Bir Singh, the former Mumbai Police Commissioner.
Singh had sent a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, in which he alleged that Mumbai Police extort up to Rs 100 crore from multiple bars and restaurants in Mumbai every month, Hindustan Times reported.
Following his resignation as home minister, Deshmukh was arrested on 2 November after being questioned for more than 12 hours at the Mumbai office of the ED.
He was not granted protection from arrest by the Bombay High Court, but has maintained that all allegations against him are untrue.
Param Bir Singh also faces similar allegations against him, with cases filed by both Mumbai Police and Maharashtra's Anti-Corruption Bureau. On 13 October, in a surprise move, the former Mumbai top cop – "missing" since several months – filed an affidavit before the Justice (retired) KJ Chandiwal Commission saying that he had no further evidence to provide in the matter.
Hrishikesh Deshmukh, the son of Anil Deshmukh, was summoned by the ED on Friday in relation to the case but he did not make an appearance.
He is expected to be issued another summon on Monday, 8 November.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times and NDTV.)
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