Anil Deshmukh's lawyer, SM handler sent illegally accessed docs to elite dignitaries: CBI

In a major development in the document leak case pertaining to the preliminary enquiry against ex-Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its chargesheet has charged the politician's lawyer and two others for allegedly leaking sensitive probe documents and subverting the probe.

In a chargesheet that runs into more than 2,700 pages and has been exclusively accessed by Republic TV, the Central Bureau of Investigation has charged Deshmukh's lawyer Anand Daga, his social media handler and a CBI official for playing a crucial role in planning of posting an illegally accessed copy of Enquiry Report to sabotage the investigation. 

"Illegally obtained enquiry report of the Preliminary Enquiry against Deshmukh was already available with Anand Dilip Daaga, which, he, in conspiracy with Vaibhav Gajendra Tumane, Social Media Handler of Anil Deshmukh and unknown others, got circulated/posted with a note on the background of the Preliminary Enquiry to a number of addressees which included many constitutional dignitaries and media houses, as a part of their larger conspiracy to subvert the investigation," the chargesheet read. 

The probe agency further stated that their officials Abhishek Tiwari and Anand Dilip Daga met at Delhi, Mumbai and Pune in person and had been in regular touch through Whatsapp Calls/messages and SMS since then. 

CBI probe further reveals incriminating details

The CBI probe revealed that Deshmukh's lawyer Anand Daga had bought an I-Phone worth ₹95,000 for CBI official Abhishek Tiwari.

It was further learnt during the probe that Tumane, the social media handler of Deshmukh, roped in services of Rahul Chakranarayan (a caretaker at the residence of Shri Anil Deshmukh), Shri Rohit Tumane (brother of Shri Vaibhav Gajendra Tumane) and Shri Sachin Umate (friend of Shri Rohit Tumane) to circulate the illegally accessed documents to various important and influential people.

Gajendra's brother Rohit collected it from Daga's residence and got its photocopies prepared in 22 sets and prepared separate envelopes thereto, and got Shri Sachin Umate to visit Delhi to post the envelopes to the addressees through speed post on August 24, 2021, from Delhi.

Later, Umate visited Delhi by Air, posted five envelopes (by Speed Post) from Vasant Kunj Post Office, New Delhi and 16 envelopes (by Speed Post) from JNU Old Campus Post Office, New Delhi (one envelope could not be posted for incomplete address) and returned to Nagpur by Air, the same day.  

The envelopes were sent to the high dignitaries/media houses with the imaginary sender's detail, with an intention to subvert the investigation and to avoid-detection.

"Gajendra Tumane (A-3), in conspiracy with Shri Anand Dilip Daga (A-2), played a crucial and active role in planning and execution of posting/circulating an illegally accessed/obtained copy of Enquiry Report with an intent to sabotage the investigation," the chargesheet stated. 

CBI's chargesheet filed in a corruption case against its then official and lawyer Anand Dilip Daga before the court of Special CBI Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal in Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court. The arrests of CBI official and lawyer had come after the CBI registered an FIR against the sub-inspector, a Nagpur-based Advocate, and unknown persons on certain allegations, including illegal gratification.

On August 29, a report that was allegedly part of a preliminary inquiry conducted by CBI got leaked in media. The report mentions that the agency had concluded that "no cognizable offence has been committed by Anil Deshmukh".

The CBI in its internal inquiry found that Deshmukh's legal team tried to bribe some lower-ranked CBI officials in its preliminary inquiry. Strict action will be taken against the staff who were involved in the case. The investigation is underway to find out if more people were involved in the conspiracy to manipulate the documents.

Image: Twitter/@ANI