CBI officer arrested, member of Deshmukh’s legal team detained
MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested one of its own officers in connection with the leaking of its preliminary enquiry report into the allegations of corruption against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. The agency has also detained Nagpur-based advocate Anand Daga, who was a part of Deshmukh’s legal team, for attempting to influence the investigating officers.
The central agency had, on Wednesday, registered an offence in connection with the leaking of the report and arrested its sub-inspector Abhishek Tiwari. Tiwari is also suspected of having illegal gratification from Deshmukh’s team for purportedly manipulating the report. The agency on Wednesday also questioned Deshmukh’s son-in-law, but he was let off after interrogation. But Daga was detained for thorough questioning.
The CBI has initiated the fresh probe after the report of the preliminary probe was leaked and suspected that Daga had tried to scuttle the probe through a junior rank CBI officer, who was part of its team, said a CBI officer. They were called for interrogation and later in the evening Daga was detained for further interrogation, added the officer. The CBI had undertaken a preliminary enquiry into the allegations of corruption levelled by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh against Deshmukh, pursuant to the April 5 order of the Bombay high court. The central agency registered an FIR against Deshmukh April 21. In a letter written to the chief minister on March 20, Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had directed certain officers to collect ₹100 crore every month from Mumbai’s hotel and bars.