Deshmukh’s PA Kundan Shinde gets bail

Anil Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande secured bail a few days ago

A special court on Wednesday granted bail to Kundan Shinde, former personal assistant (PA) of NCP leader and ex-home minister Anil Deshmukh, in a money laundering case in which both are accused.

The same court had earlier rejected the bail application of Mr Deshmukh, who had then secured relief from the Bombay High Court in October last year. The court had also denied bail to Sanjeev Palande, Mr Deshmukh’s

ex-personal secretary. Mr Palande, too, had got relief from the High Court.

Mr Shinde was arrested on June 26, 2021. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that he had collected Rs4.7 crore from Sachin Vaze, who was then the head of the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) on behalf of Mr Deshmukh. The politician had allegedly asked the now-suspended cop (in judicial custody in the Antilia bomb threat case) to collect money from bars and restaurants in the city for being allowed to function smoothly. The agency had claimed he was directly involved in the offence of money laundering.

In his bail plea before the court through advocate Aniket Nikam, Mr Shinde had said that he’s a victim of gross persecution and harassment and has been lying in custody only on the wild allegations of the suspended cop though the agency has no material against him.

He added that his arrest was made in a casual and mechanical manner. He had also raised questions on the credibility of Mr Vaze, pointing out that the latter had made several statements before a judicial commission of inquiry wherein he had made a total turnaround from the statements given to the ED.