Chandiwal panel: Minister Fmr Deshmukh denies bar owner extortion allegations

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Former Maharashtra Home Minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh testified before the Chandiwal Commission on Monday and denied allegations that extortion money was demanded from a bar owner.

He was being cross-examined by Yogesh Naidu, the attorney for fired cop Sachin Waze.

While recording evidence, Naidu pointed to a WhatsApp message received by Waze from an Ankit Anand, who owned a bar named True Tramm Trunk (TTT). This is Waze’s allegation that Anand was a close friend of Deshmukh’s son, Salil Deshmukh.

The Whatsapp message read ”I’m ready with the collection as Salil said about hukka lounge, pubs and orchestra bars. Please let me know when to meet you. Ankit anand, friend of Salil Deshmukh (son of SM)”.

Naidu asked Deshmukh if ​​he knew Anand, to which the NCP leader replied in the negative and also denied the allegation of extortion.

This is Waze’s allegation that TTT was one of 1,750 bars Deshmukh asked him to extort money from.

After Naidu completed his cross-examination, Deshmukh, before rising from his seat in the witness box, told the commission that he wanted to talk about “param satya”. “Why Param Bir Singh (former Commissioner of Police) wrote this letter (alleging corruption allegations against Deshmukh). I want to declare that the ‘param satya’ should come out,’ Deshmukh said.

Judge Chandiwal, however, told Deshmukh he would have to get written permission if he wanted to speak. He added that the former minister had already stated what he wanted to say in his affidavit.

Waze’s request to summon Joint Mumbai Police Commissioner Milind Bharambe as a witness was also denied, although Judge Chandiwal gave Waze a day to seek a legal opinion on whether he wanted challenge the order.

The Maharashtra government in March last year formed the one-member commission under Justice KU Chandiwal (Retired) to investigate Param Bir Singh’s allegations against Deshmukh.

Singh, who was transferred from the post of police commissioner in Mumbai in March following the Antilia bomb threat episode, had claimed that Deshmukh had asked police officers to collect Rs 100 crore per month from the bars and restaurants in town.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are also investigating these allegations against Deshmukh, who is currently in custody in a money laundering case.

(This story has not been edited by the Devdiscourse team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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