I was offered a deal in jail to topple MVA govt, says Anil Deshmukh

MUMBAI, (ANI): Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh alleged that when he was in jail, he was offered a “deal” for getting out, and had he accepted it, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government could not have lasted even 2.5 years.

Addressing an event in Wardha, Deshmukh said, “You all know I was kept in jail for 14 months under false allegations. I had received an offer for a deal. Had I accepted, I wouldn’t have been in jail.”

“The MVA government would have got toppled even before 2.5 years, if I had accepted the offer, but I didn’t go for settlement,” he added. Deshmukh, who was booked in connection with an alleged Rs 100-crore extortion case, was granted conditional bail by the Bombay High Court on December 12, 2022, on a bond of Rs 1 lakh.

He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November 2021, which stated that he had misused his position as state home minister and collected Rs 4.70 crore from various bars in Mumbai through some police officers. Earlier on January 6, Deshmukh was granted permission to visit Nagpur, after he moved a petition before a special PMLA court in Mumbai.

Among the bail conditions imposed by the HC was that Deshmukh cannot leave Mumbai without the prior approval of the trial court and must cooperate with the investigation. Deshmukh had previously denied the allegations against him, claiming they were baseless

“Param Bir Singh (then Mumbai Police commissioner), in an affidavit submitted in court, stated that the accusations against me were based on hearsay and that he had no evidence against me,” Deshmukh said earlier. He said, “Param Bir Singh and Sachin Vaze (Mumbai Ex-cop) made false allegations and I had to stay in jail.”

Notably, Anil Deshmukh held office as the Home Minister of Maharashtra, under the MVA rule, before ED arrested him in the alleged money laundering case. (ANI)