Former Maharashtra home minister and senior NCP leader Anil Deshmukh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate after he was questioned for over 12 hours in a money laundering case.
Deshmukh, who had evaded five summons earlier, was accompanied by lawyers when he entered the ED office at Ballard Estate. The ED said Deshmukh has been arrested as per the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
They claimed the senior NCP leader was evasive during questioning and the agency will seek his custody after they produce him before a local court.
Deshmukh entered the ED office before noon and was arrested around midnight.
Before Deshmukh entered the ED office, he released a press statement and a video statement from his Twitter handle.
“When I got a summons from the ED, I was accused of not cooperating with the probe agency. The media has been wrongly reporting that I have been evading summons, but I want to make it clear that whenever I was asked to appear, I told the probe agency that the matter is in the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court and to wait for the outcome,”
“I clearly said that once the decision is out, I will be at the ED office. When my office and my homes were raised, my family and staff cooperated with them. I also got two summons from CBI… whenever I got summons I went to CBI office and got my statement recorded. Even today, my case is pending in the Supreme Court. But today I have presented myself in the ED office.”
