Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh appears before CBI
Mumbai: Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh appeared before the CBI on Wednesday for questioning in connection with the allegations of corruption levelled against him by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, an official said.
Deshmukh reached the DRDO guest house, where a team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is camping to, in suburban Santacruz around 10 am, he said.
The CBI on Monday issued a notice calling Deshmukh to join the agency's probe into the allegations levelled against him by Param Bir Singh and suspended police officer Sachin Waze, the official said.
Waze, an assistant police inspector, is under investigation in the case of an explosive-laden SUV found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence in south Mumbai.
The CBI is conducting a preliminary enquiry into the allegations against Deshmukh levelled by Singh after he was removed from the post of Mumbai police commissioner.
The allegations were reportedly corroborated by Waze in the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is conducting a probe into the SUV case, officials earlier said.
The Bombay High Court last week directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the allegations levelled by Singh against Deshmukh.
In a letter, Singh had claimed that Deshmukh asked Waze to allegedly extort over Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai.
Deshmukh has denied the allegations.
So far, the CBI has recorded statements of Param Bir Singh, Sachin Waze, Deputy Commissioner of Police Raju Bhujbal, Assistant Commissioner of Police Sanjay Patil, advocate Jayshree Patil and hotel owner Mahesh Shetty.
It also questioned Deshmukh's personal assistant Kundan Shinde and personal secretary Sanjeev Palande on Sunday.
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Minister Parameshwara says remarks on properties linked to drug peddlers 'misunderstood'
Tumakuru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said his recent remarks on the demolition of properties linked to those involved in narcotics trade were "misunderstood and misinterpreted".
His clarification follows remarks made two days ago on the government's uncompromising crackdown on the drug menace, including action against properties linked to foreign nationals allegedly involved in drug trafficking.
"It is unfortunate. It is taken in the wrong sense. I didn't mean that tomorrow itself I am going to send bulldozers and demolish the houses. That was not my intention. It was wrongly taken," he told reporters here.
Responding to Congress MLC K Abdul Jabbar's question in the legislative council on the growing drug menace in Bengaluru, Davangere and coastal districts, the minister on Thursday detailed the extensive enforcement measures initiated since the Congress government assumed office.
Pointing to the involvement of some foreign nationals, the minister had said, "Many foreign students from African countries have come to Karnataka. They are into the drug business. We catch them and register cases against them, but they want the case to be registered because once the case is registered, we cannot deport them."
"We have gone to the extent of demolishing the rented building where they stay," he had said.
