Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has gone underground, Enforcement Directorate is searching his ‘hideouts’. Hours after the attachment of assets worth over Rs 4 crore, the ED set out its teams in search of Deshmukh, who had been evading questioning in a money laundering case against him and is not reachable on his phones.
ED officials searched multiple locations in and around Nagpur, believed to be likely hideouts of the senior NCP leader. Deshmukh is accused by ED of influencing an extortion racket involving senior police officers of the Mumbai crime branch while he was holding the office of the state Home Minister. BJP leader Kirit Someiya tweeted, “Anil Deshmukh gayab hai. Not Traceable. ED sent three summons. He is not found at Mumbai, Nagpur or Katol. I am afraid Bhaag to Nahi Gaye”.
Two separate teams of the ED searched Deshmukh’s house in Katol town, located about 60 km from Nagpur, and his ancestral home at Wadvihira village near Katol. The searches started at around 6 am, he said. The official said that the search is still on at the Katol premises of Deshmukh, while the search at Wadvihira concluded around noon.
The ED is conducting a probe into the money laundering case related to an alleged multi-crore bribery-cum-extortion racket that led to Deshmukh’s resignation from the post of Home Minister in April this year. Deshmukh is not traceable and his mobile phone is also not reachable.
The central agency recently arrested Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande (51) and personal assistant Kundan Shinde (45) after it carried out raids against them and the NCP leader in Mumbai and Nagpur. Deshmukh had earlier skipped ED’s summons for questioning in the case.