The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in an alleged bribery case, reported PTI.
The agency is carrying out searches at various locations, the report said, quoting sources.
The Bombay High Court on 5 April had directed a preliminary inquiry by the CBI into the allegations by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
The court ordered for the investigation to be completed within 15 days.
Why Has Singh Taken Deshmukh to Court?
Singh accused Deshmukh of corruption, meddling in the police force’s functioning and manipulating transfers and postings in the state among other charges. Singh had demanded a CBI probe into his allegations.
Singh made these allegations while he challenged his transfer to the Home Guard Department by the Maharashtra government, in the backdrop of the Mukesh Ambani bomb scare case and his alleged proximity with former API Sachin Vaze, who was arrested in the case.
He has alleged that he was transferred on 17 March to the Home Guard Department after he brought to knowledge of senior leaders , including Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the alleged corrupt practices of Deshmukh.
Singh claimed that Deshmukh held meetings in February 2021 with junior police officers, including Vaze and instructed them to accumulate Rs 100 crore every month. The former Mumbai Police Chief Commissioner had also accused Deshmukh of interfering in various investigations and instructing the police officers to conduct probes in a particular manner as desired by him.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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