Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate late Monday night after over 12 hours of questioning in a money-laundering case linked to an alleged extortion racket in the state police establishment, officials said.
They said Deshmukh, 71, was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
They claimed the senior NCP leader was evasive during questioning and the agency will seek his custody after they produce him before a local court here on Tuesday.
The politician arrived at the ED office in the Ballard Estate area of south Mumbai around 11:40 am, accompanied by his lawyer and his associates and was soon after put under grilling sessions with some breaks in between, sources said.
Deshmukh appeared before the agency after the Bombay high court last week refused to quash ED summonses against him. He had skipped at least five ED notices.
The money laundering case against Deshmukh and others was made out after the CBI booked him in a corruption case related to allegations of at least Rs 100 crore bribery made by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.
The federal probe agency recorded the statement of the Nationalist Congress Party leader under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in connection with the criminal investigation being carried out by it in the alleged Rs 100 crore bribery-cum-extortion racket in the Maharashtra Police establishment that led to Deshmukh's resignation in April.
The questioning and recording of statements sessions went for long as officials said Deshmukh was a "key person" in this case and needs to be grilled on a number of subjects including the disclosures made by suspended Mumbai Police officer Sachin Waze during ED questioning. -- PTI