His lawyers have submitted a letter seeking time to appear before the ED for statement.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had summoned Deshmukh to record his statement after arresting his two aides in a money laundering case on Saturday.
The Enforcement Directorate will produce Deshmukh’s private secretary Sanjeev Palande, who is an additional collector rank officer, and personal assistant Kundan Shinde before the court, where the Enforcement Directorate will seek their remand.
On Friday, the Enforcement Directorate carried out raids against Deshmukh in Mumbai and Nagpur.
ED raids former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh’s home in Nagpur
The ED is following a trail of Rs 4 crore that it believes is part of money collected by dismissed cop Sachin Waze from 12 bars and passed on to Deshmukh. “The money from the bar owners was deposited into accounts of shell firms and then diverted to an entity linked to the Deshmukh family,” said a source.
Deshmukh has been accused by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh of asking sacked cop Sachin Waze, now in jail over planting explosives near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house and murdering a businessman, to collect Rs 100 crore from bars and restaurants every month for him.
A day before the searches, the ED had recorded the statement of DCP Raju Bhujbal, a key witness. Deshmukh allegedly repeated the Rs 100 crore demand after calling Bhujbal, along with ACP Sanjay Patil, at his official residence.
After the controversy, CBI registered a corruption case against Deshmukh and he resigned from the home minister’s post. Subsequently, the ED registered a money laundering case last month against Deshmukh.
