Sachin Waze collected Rs 4.7 crore from Mumbai bar owners: ED
In the latest development into the investigation of the corruption case involving suspended Maharashtra police officer Sachin Waze, the Enforcement Directorate has released a statement saying that Waze had collected around ₹ 4.7 crores in cash from bar owners in Mumbai and delivered it to the personal assistant of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
The ED also claimed that Waze, who was the head of the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of Mumbai Police before he was suspended, informed the affected bar owners and managers that the money being collected “will go to no. 1 ad crime branch and social service branch of Mumbai Police.”
Furthermore, he also told the investigating officials that “he was getting direct instructions from Anil Deshmukh, the then home minister, in a number of police investigations.”The ED made these allegations in its remand application, fielded before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai while seeking custody of Anil Deshmukh’s aides, personal secretary Sanjeev Palande (51) and personal assistant Kundan Shinde (45), who was arrested by the agency earlier today.
They have been sent to the ED’s custody till July 1. The former cop recorded his statement with the ED saying he was “called for a meeting at the official residence of Maharashtra home minister wherein he was given a list of bar and restaurant owners”.
In the meeting, Waze said, he was asked “to collect Rs 3 lakh per month from each bar and restaurant. “Waze has also stated that he had collected approximately Rs 4.70 crore from various bar owners between the months of December 2020 to February 2021 and handed over the same to Kundan Sambhaji Shinde, the personal assistant of Anil Deshmukh on the instruction of the then home minister in two installments in the month of January and February 2021,” the ED alleged.
The Sachin Waze corruption case blew up in Mumbai after an SUV full of explosives was found parked near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house. The case was a major embarrassment for the Maharashtra State Government, as their home minister was implicated in it, and could possibly be guilty of corruption.
Former Mumbai Police commissioner, Param Bir Singh, had also alleged a case of bribery amounting to Rs 100 crore against Anil Deshmukh. The government was forced to drop Deshmukh from the cabinet to control the damage done to their image. After much uproar, the case was handed over to the ED and the CBI, handling the investigation until now.
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News source: The Telegraph
Updated by Indranuj Ray