Lawyer appears before ED in money laundering case against Anil Deshmukh

A Nagpur-based lawyer appeared before the Enforcement Directorate here on Monday in connection with a money laundering case in which the central agency had earlier summoned Anil Deshmukh

A Nagpur-based lawyer appeared before the Enforcement Directorate here on Monday in connection with a money laundering case in which the central agency had earlier summoned former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, a police official said.

The ED summoned advocate Tarun Parmar last week after he complained to the agency against Deshmukh and some other politicians, claiming that he knew how these people were involved in money laundering and had documents to prove it.

On Monday, Parmar reached the ED's office around 11 am. He was carrying some documents when he entered the central agency's office in south Mumbai.

Earlier, Deshmukh was asked to depose before the investigating officer at the ED's office on Saturday for questioning in the money laundering case related to an alleged multi-crore bribery-cum-extortion racket that led to his resignation from the post of state home minister in April this year.

The NCP leader, however, had sought a fresh date for appearance before the ED, following which the agency asked him to appear for questioning this week.

The central agency on Saturday arrested Deshmukh's personal secretary Sanjeev Palande (51) and personal assistant Kundan Shinde (45) after it carried out raids against them and the former home minister in Mumbai and Nagpur on Friday.

The ED's case against Deshmukh and others was made out after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) first carried out a preliminary enquiry followed by a regular case being filed on the orders of the Bombay High Court.

The court had asked the CBI to look into the allegations of bribery made against Deshmukh by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

Deshmukh, who resigned from his post in April following the allegations, has denied any wrongdoing.