The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted a search operation at the house of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who is facing allegations of corruption and misconduct. The raids took place at Deshmukh's home in Nagpur, officials said. The senior NCP leader had quit his post after former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh wrote a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray levelling allegations of corruption against him.
Singh, who was unceremoniously removed as Mumbai's top cop in March amid multiple investigations linked to a security scare outside the home of Mukesh Ambani, claimed that Deshmukh used to ask police officers to collect money from restaurant and bar owners of Mumbai. In his letter, Singh had also mentioned that former assistant inspector Sachin Vaze and ACP Sanjay Patil were given a target to collect ₹ 100 crore a month. Deshmukh had denied all allegations.
Following the allegations, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted a preliminary inquiry and registered an FIR against Anil Deshmukh. The probe was initiated after a high court bench, led by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta, in April directed the CBI to initiate a preliminary inquiry against Deshmukh based on a criminal complaint lodged at a Mumbai police station.
The Enforcement Directorate also registered a money laundering case against him and started a probe in connection with the case. Deshmukh resigned from the state cabinet on August 5 after the High Court order. "I don't have the moral right to continue in office after the court order. I have decided to quit. Kindly relieve me from my post," Deshmukh had said in his resignation letter.
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