The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a lookout circular against NCP leader Anil Deshmukh who resigned as Maharashtra Home Minister in April this year. The notice has been issued in connection with a ₹ 100 crore money laundering case that had forced him to quit his ministerial position, the NDTV reported.
The lookout circular was issued to prevent Deshmukh from leaving the country, ED sources said. He has skipped multiple summons issued by the probe agency.
Last month, the Supreme Court had refused to grant him interim relief against coercive action in the case.
The ED’s case against Deshmukh and others was registered after the CBI lodged a corruption case based on an allegation of ₹ 100 crore bribe accumulated by the 71-year-old. The accusation was made by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.
Singh had made the allegation following his removal from the post in the aftermath of an explosives-laden SUV being found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai residence. He wrote to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray saying the then state Home Minister had asked suspended cop Sachin Waze to extort over ₹ 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants in the city.
On April 21, the CBI registered an FIR against Deshmukh based on a Bombay High court order.
Deshmukh, who resigned from his post in April following the allegations, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
The ED had arrested Anil Deshmukh’s personal secretary and personal assistant after it carried out raids against them and the NCP leader in Mumbai and Nagpur.
His son-in-law was questioned by the CBI earlier over the leak of an inquiry report.
