Money laundering case: Anil Deshmukh's aides sent to judicial custody till July 20

Anil Deshmukh. File Pic

A special PMLA court has remanded two aides of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in judicial custody till July 20 in a money laundering case against the politician, related to charges of bribery of Rs 100 crore.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Deshmukh's personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde on June 26. They have been booked under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The duo was produced before special judge SM Bhosle at the end of their ED remand on Tuesday. The court remanded them in judicial custody, as sought by the probe agency.

Earlier, the ED had told the court that the two accused played a "very crucial" role in the offence. Earlier, former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had alleged that Deshmukh, when he was the home minister, had directed dismissed policeman Sachin Waze to extort over Rs 100 crore per month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai.

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The ED's case against Deshmukh and others was made out after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out a preliminary enquiry into the allegations made by Singh on the orders of the Bombay High Court. The CBI had booked Deshmukh and others under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections related to criminal conspiracy and the Prevention of Corruption Act for "attempt to obtain undue advantage for the improper and dishonest performance of public duty".
Deshmukh, who resigned as the state home minister in April this year following the allegations, has denied any wrongdoing.

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