The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting searches on February 12 at 12 locations in Nagpur linked to the chartered accountants (CAs) of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in connection with a money laundering case registered against him, officials said.
The CBI teams from Delhi and Mumbai arrived in Nagpur on February 11 night and began the searches on February 12 morning, they said.
“These 12 locations are either residences or office premises of the chartered accountants of Deshmukh,” an official said.
Mr. Deshmukh, who hails from Nagpur, had stepped down as State Home Minister in April last year following allegations of corruption levelled against him by former Police Commissioner of Mumbai Param Bir Singh. Mr. Deshmukh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on November 1 last year and is currently in judicial custody. The agency had launched a probe against Mr. Deshmukh after the CBI filed an FIR against the NCP leader on April 21, 2021, for alleged corruption.
The ED’s case is that while serving as State Home Minister, Mr. Deshmukh, through then-Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze (who was dismissed from service after arrest in the ‘Antilia’ bomb scare case last year), collected ₹4.70 crore from various bars and restaurants in Mumbai. The money was then laundered and routed to the Nagpur-based Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan, an educational trust controlled by the Deshmukh family, the ED has claimed.
