Case against Deshmukh: ED grills Nagpur deputy RTO

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday questioned Nagpur’s deputy regional transport officer (RTO) Bajrang Kharmate – said to be a close associate of Maharashtra transport minister Anil Parab – for seven-and-a-half hours, in connection with an alleged money laundering case in which former state home minister Anil Deshmukh is an accused. Kharmate reached the ED office at noon after he was summoned by the agency. ED sources said Kharmate was grilled over his suspected role in the alleged collection of money for ministers for securing plum postings for certain government officials. His name is said to have cropped up in the statements of some witnesses in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case against Deshmukh.

Last week, ED had raided some places linked to Kharmate in Pune and had also recorded statements of a few witnesses.

ED suspects that Kharmate has amassed huge properties in the name of his family members. He is also suspected to have owned franchises of some top brands in Pune and has commercial properties. However, the agency is still collecting evidence to ascertain if the said properties were proceeds of the crime. Parab had also been summoned by the agency last week. However, he has sought two weeks’ time citing some important public events that he needed to attend.

The money laundering case against Deshmukh was filed after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a case against him in April. Deshmukh had denied the allegations.