Anil Deshmukh’s arrest shows PM Modi’s vision of zero-tolerance policy towards corruption: Maharashtra BJP chief

Pune (Maharashtra): Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Chandrakant Patil on Tuesday said the arrest of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of zero-tolerance towards corruption.

He also said that Deshmukh himself arrived at the ED office and it shows that the latter realised there was “no escape.”

“Anil Deshmukh was arrested late last night. About his arrest, I had said that since he arrived on his own at the ED office, it means that all doors have closed and there is no way to escape. Now that there was no way to escape, then his arrest was bound to happen. With his arrest, the social and political life in Maharashtra and the country has come under tension and such arrests also happen. Since the time Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge of his post, he has aimed at zero-tolerance and this is a big example,” Patil said on Tuesday.

He further claimed that there is a list of Ministers in the Maharashtra Cabinet that will have the same fate.

Deshmukh was arrested late last night by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the alleged Rs 100-crore extortion and money laundering case. He was taken for a medical examination today. He will be produced before court today.

According to an ED official, the arrest has been made after 13 hours of Deshmukh’s questioning at the central agency office on Monday.

The former minister arrived at the ED office to join the investigation in extortion and money laundering allegations against him on Monday.

“Today, I have presented myself before the Enforcement Directorate. Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh made false allegations against me. Where is he today? As per media reports, he has left the country,” Deshmukh had said in a self-made video.

Earlier on Friday, Bombay High Court rejected former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh’s petition challenging the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons for him to appear before the agency.

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had accused Anil Deshmukh of asking dismissed assistant inspector Sachin Vaze to collect Rs 100 crore from hotels and bars in Mumbai every month.

The federal probe agency will record the statement of Deshmukh under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the criminal investigation being carried out by it in the alleged Rs 100 crore bribery-cum-extortion racket in the Maharashtra Police establishment.

It registered a case against Deshmukh and others based on a corruption case filed against him by the CBI.