ED summons former Mumbai CP Sanjay Pandey in Maha Vasooli case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday summoned former Mumbai CP Sanjay Pandey in the Maharashtra Vasooli racket case. The agency has asked Sanjay Pandey to appear before it on July 5 for interrogation. Sources have revealed that when Sanjay Pandey was the Maharashtra DGP, he made a call to ex-Mumbai CP Param Bir Singh asking him to take back his allegations against then-Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. 

On March 20, 2021, Param Bir Singh levelled serious 'extortion' charges against Anil Deshmukh. In a letter addressed to then-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Singh refuted Deshmukh's remarks that his transfer was due to serious lapses in the Antilia bomb scare case. Moreover, he alleged that the NCP leader had asked Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze to extort Rs.100 crore per month from 1750 bars, restaurants, and other establishments in Mumbai. However, Deshmukh rejected these claims and announced that he will file a defamation suit against Singh. 

Param Bir makes fresh explosive claims

Interestingly, last month, in another explosive claim, ex-Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh contended that Uddhav Thackeray, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and Transport Minister Anil Parab were aware of Anil Deshmukh's alleged misdeeds. He made this charge in a statement given to the CBI which was included in the charge sheet submitted by the central agency in a special court against Deshmukh. Singh also professed to have apprised NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil about the then state Home Minister's malpractices in March 2021.

The former Mumbai Police Commissioner also averred that Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray's purported personal assistant Suraj Chauhan had met him and pressurised him to reinstate tainted cop Sachin Vaze. 

Meanwhile, after the case came to light last year, Anil Deshmukh stepped down as the Home Minister after the Bombay High Court directed the CBI to carry out a preliminary enquiry into these allegations. On April 21, 2021, the CBI registered an FIR against the NCP leader and unknown individuals under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120 B of the IPC. Subsequently, the ED filed an ECIR against the NCP MLA on May 11 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act for allegedly obtaining illegal gratification.