Nagpur: A day after Enforcement Directorate (ED) informed a Mumbai court that Maharashtra governor has sanctioned prosecution of Anil Deshmukh in an extortion and money laundering case, the former state home minister claimed the entire case was fabricated by ex-Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh to take revenge for his suspension.ED investigated charges of money laundering after Singh claimed that Deshmukh, during his tenure as home minister in 2021, had set a target of Rs100 crore “collection”. Deshmukh said Singh made the false allegation after Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) govt probe into the planting of explosives outside billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s house ‘Antilia’ in Mumbai pointed at Singh’s role. “It was all planned by Param Bir Singh,” Deshmukh said on Tuesday in Nagpur.On the latest development of ED getting the green signal for prosecuting him, Deshmukh shifted focus to the explosives case and questioned why Singh was being spared. “Even when the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was probing the explosives case, they found evidence against Singh. He has not been named as an accused in any case. Who is protecting Singh? He has the blessings of someone powerful,” said Deshmukh.The former home minister maintained that the money laundering case against him was not only false but a vindictive one. “The state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) investigated the Antilia case. After they found evidence against Singh, he was first transferred and then suspended. Later, he made the Rs 100 crore allegation against me,” said Deshmukh.Deshmukh said the focus must also be on the explosives found outside the Antilia. “When the investigation of the Antilia case went from ATS to NIA, they too found a lot of evidence against Singh. During the bail hearing of one accused, the high court also observed Singh not being made an accused,” claimed Deshmukh.Deshmukh has sought release of Chandiwal Commission’s 1,400-page report, saying it remains unpublished since April 2022. Deshmukh claims the report clears his name in the money laundering case allegations.ED told a special court on Monday that it has received governor’s sanction, dated May 21, to prosecute Deshmukh under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
