Former Maharashtra chief secretary Sitaram Kunte on Tuesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate in the money laundering case linked to extortion and cash-for-transfers accusations against the former state home minister Anil Deshmukh.
Kunte was earlier summoned by ED on November 25 to answer some questions but didn’t appear, citing some important meetings. Now, that he has retired from the service on November 30, he visited ED office in Ballard estate on Tuesday morning at around 11.10am and joined the investigation.
Before being promoted as the chief secretary, Kunte held the office of additional chief secretary (home).
People aware of the developments said that ED was trying to build a water tight case against Deshmukh, who was arrested on November 2 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a case of extortion from Mumbai’s bars and subsequently also accused of bribery in transfer and postings of senior police officers in the state. Presently Deshmukh is in judicial custody.
Earlier, the ED questioned transportation minister Anil Parab and Bajrang Kharmate in the PMLA case. Kharmate’s name had cropped up in the statement of dismissed assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze and some other witnesses against Deshmukh.
On September 30, the anti-money laundering agency questioned Kailash Gaikwad, a deputy secretary in the state home department in connection with the transfers and postings case. Gaikwad was part of the IPS (Indian Police Service) officers transfer process.
The money laundering case against Deshmukh was registered after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a first information report (FIR) against him on April 21. Deshmukh had in the past said that the allegations against him were false.
The Central agency has alleged that while serving as Maharashtra home minister, Deshmukh misused his position, and through assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze — who has now been dismissed and is in Taloja jail for his alleged role in the Antilia explosives scare and Mansukh Hiran murder cases — collected ₹4.7 crore from Mumbai’s bars for their “smooth functioning”.
Later, through hawala channels, the money was sent to two brothers in Delhi who operated bogus companies, said the agency. It claimed that the two brothers later diverted the money as donations to Nagpur-based Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan, an educational trust controlled by the Deshmukhs.