Maha CM Uddhav Thackeray to meet NCP chief Sharad Pawar to discuss Anil Deshmukh's arrest

Amid former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh's arrest, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar will meet on Tuesday to discuss it, report sources. Apart from Pawar, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar also will meet Thackeray. Anil Deshmukh was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection to a money laundering case after 12 hours of investigation.

Thackeray-Pawar huddle to discuss Deshmukh's arrest

At 1 AM on Tuesday, the ED arrested Deshmukh in a PMLA case lodged against him after multiple raids at premises linked with him in Mumbai and Nagpur. As per sources, Deshmukh has been arrested under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Sources added that Deshmukh was not cooperating and was being evasive in his replies to the agency. His legal team is set to oppose his remand when he will be produced in court later today.

ED has already attached immovable assets worth Rs.4.2 crore allegedly belonging to Deshmukh and his family members under the PMLA. Sanjiv Palande - Deshmukh's personal secretary, along with Kundan Shinde (Deshmukh's personal assistant) have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the money laundering of Rs 4 crore. Anil Deshmukh had evaded five summons by the ED in the PMLA case and was 'missing' from Maharashtra before he resurfaced on Tuesday.

As per the ED, Kundan Shinde - Deshmukh's personal assistant - served as the middleman between former Mumbai API Sachin Vaze and Deshmukh in the extortion racket. The ED told the sessions court, that a total of Rs 4 crores collected by Vaze from various establishments was given to Kundan Shinde who passed it on to Anil Deshmukh. Several Kolkata-based shell companies have also been named as a part of this extortion racket. Moreover, Rs 10 crores was allegedly routed through a company named Zodiac Dealcom.

Param Bir Singh's allegations against Anil Deshmukh

Earlier in April, in an 8-page letter to CM Thackeray, Param Bir Singh alleged that Vaze had been summoned by Deshmukh to his residence several times in the past few months 'setting a target of accumulating Rs 100 crores a month' from 1,750 bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai - collecting Rs 2-3 lakhs from each. He added that the Home Minister had said that a monthly collection of Rs 40-50 crores were achievable from such establishments and the rest could be 'collected from other sources'. Maharashtra HM Anil Deshmukh refuted all 'extortion allegations' and later resigned after the HC allowed a CBI probe into Singh's allegations. Param Bir Singh himself has reportedly fled the country amid multiple extortion cases slapped against him.