After a day of interrogation, the CBI detained Anand Daga, a member of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh’s legal team, for allegedly attempting to sway the agency’s investigation into his client’s corruption accusations. Daga was brought to Delhi, where he and CBI sub-inspector Abhishek Tiwari, who was detained on Wednesday for allegedly leaking the agency’s preliminary probe report into the corruption accusations, will appear in court.
Advocate Daga was also detained; he was sent to Delhi on a transit remand. R C Joshi, a CBI spokesman, stated that both arrested people would be brought before a competent court.” Following the publication of the report’s contents in a part of the media, the CBI filed a case on Wednesday. It detained Tiwari and searched his home and workplace in connection with the suspected leak. Tiwari is also suspected of accepting a payment from Deshmukh’s team for allegedly tampering with the report.
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The CBI questioned Deshmukh’s son-in-law on Wednesday, but he was subsequently released. Daga, on the other hand, was arrested after being detained for interrogation. According to a federal agency official, Daga is suspected of stymie the investigation through a subordinate CBI investigator. Following a Bombay high court ruling in April, the CBI launched a preliminary investigation into Deshmukh. Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh accused Deshmukh of corruption, prompting the investigation.
On March 20, Singh wrote to Mumbai chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, alleging that Deshmukh instructed specific Mumbai police officials to collect Rs 100 crores from hotel and bar owners monthly. After a preliminary investigation, the CBI arrested Deshmukh on April 21, claiming that the accusations were true. Deshmukh has also been charged with money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The CBI claims that their investigation found Deshmukh abused his authority as Maharashtra’s home minister. Deshmukh’s secretary was detained. Sanjeev Palande and his helper Kundan Shinde were arrested on June 26 for allegedly laundering money, extorted reportedly on Deshmukh’s orders.
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Deshmukh’s properties worth 4.2 crores were temporarily attached by the ED in July. Deshmukh has dismissed claims that he is being pursued political reasons. He claims Singh levelled them after he was fired for his bad handling of the case involving the explosives-laden automobile parked near tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s home and the death of the vehicle’s owner.
