CBI arrests its own sub-inspector and Anil Deshmukh’s lawyer in bribery case

The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested one of its own sub-inspectors and the lawyer of former Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Anil Deshmukh, PTI reported on Thursday.

The arrests have been made as part of an investigation into the allegations that Deshmukh had coerced police officers to collect bribes on his behalf. The arrests were made after the investigating agency found that the lawyer, Anand Daga, had bribed the CBI officer.

The CBI on Wednesday said that it had filed a case against Daga, sub-inspector Abhishek Tiwari and other unidentified individuals for illegal gratification, reported The Times of India.

Daga had been called in for questioning on Wednesday and was arrested the following day.

A Delhi court on Thursday remanded Daga and Tiwari to two days in CBI custody, ANI reported. The central agency had sought their custody for seven days.

The CBI told the court that Tiwari disclosed sensitive and confidential documents to Daga for subverting an investigation, according to ANI.

On the other hand, Daga’s lawyer Tanvir Ahmed Mir told the court that the CBI filed the FIR more than 24 hours earlier, but has not yet given him a copy of it. In response, a counsel for the CBI said that FIRs in sensitive cases can be uploaded in 72 hours.

Meanwhile, a CBI official told The Indian Express that there is evidence to show that the lawyer bribed an officer working at a level below the investigating officer during the PE (preliminary inquiry). The officer said that an enquiry into the matter is on.

A purported preliminary enquiry report that was leaked did not mention any cognisable offence against Deshmukh, according to The Indian Express. The CBI said that Deshmukh’s lawyer had allegedly bribed the agency’s official to manipulate this report “in an attempt to subvert the case”.

The purported report was signed by the investigating officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police RS Gunjiyal.

Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik said that the leaked report was genuine, PTI reported. He said that the CBI has claimed that the report was leaked in exchange for a bribe, and has registered a case in the matter.

However, the agency is not saying that the report itself was fake, Malik told reporters. “To save its face, it is saying that the report had been managed,” PTI quoted him as saying. “If the report is presented in the court, Anil Deshmukh will get reprieve. Whatever is happening is all politically motivated.”

However, a CBI official said that it was only an initial report as the final one goes through “several rounds of consultation and takes into consideration the opinion of legal officers as well”. The official told The Indian Express that a senior officer finally decides “whether a case has to be registered or not”.

On Wednesday evening, the CBI had reportedly intercepted a car in which Deshmukh’s son-in-law Gaurav Chaturvedi and Daga were travelling. After this, both of them were detained for questioning, but Chaturvedi was released after a few hours.

‘CBI has to clarify under what rules they did this,’ says NCP

Deshmukh’s family as well as the NCP and the Congress accused the police of not following procedure while detaining Chaturvedi and Daga.

“No rules were followed,” Malik told The Indian Express. “We don’t know whether there is a law of the land or law of the rulers in this country. The CBI has to clarify under what rules they did this.”

Congress leader Sachin Sawant claimed that the police would need permission from the state government or the High Court before investigating the matter.

“If Son in law and lawyer of Anil Deshmukhji were picked up by CBI to investigate Leaked preliminary enquiry report then isn’t it a different offence?” he tweeted. “If it’s a different offense then won’t they need permission from either state government or High Court to investigate?”

Sawant said that the CBI operates under the Delhi Special Police Act, and that investigation of a crime is a “state prerogative”.

“So if [a] report is leaked, CBI can file FIR with [the] state police,” he tweeted. “They can’t pick up anyone without authority. This seems high-handedness. MVA government must intervene to see if anything illegal has happened.” MVA, or the Maha Vikas Aghadi, is a reference to the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress coalition government.

Allegations against Deshmukh

In March, former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh had accused Deshmukh of extorting money from the owners of bars and restaurants in the city.

Singh had alleged that suspended assistant police inspector of Mumbai Police Sachin Vaze told him that Deshmukh had asked him to collect Rs 100 crore every month through illegal channels.

The central agency has alleged that Vaze had collected Rs 4.7 crore from the bar owners from December 2020 to February’s on Deshmukh’s instructions.

On August 23, the Enforcement Directorate had filed a chargesheet against Deshmukh’s aides Sanjeev Palande and Kundan Shinde in an alleged money laundering case. The agency had arrested the two men on June 26 in connection with the case.

Palande is Deshmukh’s private secretary, Shinde is his private assistant.

The Enforcement Directorate has alleged that Vaze had handed over the money to Shinde and Palande.

Deshmukh has repeatedly denied the accusations, but resigned from the state Cabinet on April 5 after the Bombay High Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct a preliminary inquiry against him.

The Enforcement Directorate has summoned the former Maharashtra home minister five times, but he has skipped all of them.