Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh Resigns As Bombay HC Orders CBI Probe Into Rs 100 Crore Extortion Racket

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh today (5 April) sent his resignation to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, weeks after he became embroiled in the alleged Rs 100 crore per month extortion plan.

In the resignation letter which he also posted on Twitter, Deshmukh sited the Bombay High Court ordering a preliminary CBI inquiry into the allegations against him as the reason for his resignation.

Deshmukh states that in light of the High Court order he feels that it is not appropriate for him to continue on his post and is quitting on his own accord.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni had this morning asked the CBI to complete its 'preliminary probe' within 15 days on the issues raised by Singh in his 'letter-bomb' last month.

The court had reserved its orders after hearing Singh's petition and some other PILs pertaining to the issue, on 31 March.

In a letter written to CM Uddhav Thackeray a few days after his transfer, Singh had alleged that Deshmukh asked arrested cop Sachin Waze to extort money from restaurants and bars in Mumbai and gave him a target of Rs 100 crore a month.

Singh further said that Deshmukh had interfered in the former Dadra and Nagar Haveli MP Mohan Delkar’s suicide case to gain political mileage. Delkar’s family alleges that he took the extreme step due to harassment by the administration of the UT led by Praful Patel, who was a BJP MLA and Minister of State for Home in Gujarat from 2010-12.

With Inputs From IANS