The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged that its sub-inspector, Abhishek Tiwari , received bribes from the former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh’s lawyer to share confidential information about the probe against him. Both the lawyer and the sub-inspector are currently in CBI custody.
The sub-inspector was part of the team led by a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) which had gone to Mumbai on April 6 this year to conduct a preliminary enquiry against Mr. Deshmukh, as directed by the Bombay High Court. The team members examined several persons, including Mr. Deshmukh.
The DSP, as an enquiry officer, submitted the enquiry report on April 16. The accused sub-inspector was assisting him in preparing the report and had been in possession of the case-related documents, according to the First Information Report. “Pursuant to the comments and opinion of senior officers, including legal officers, and after the approval of the competent authority”, a case was registered against Mr. Deshmukh and others on April 21, the CBI said.
The agency later found out that copies of the confidential documents pertaining to the enquiry and investigation in the Deshmukh case had been disclosed to unauthorised persons. The sub-inspector had allegedly come in contact with Anand Dilip Daga, the Nagpur-based lawyer of Mr. Deshmukh, and was in regular touch with him.
Contact in Pune
On June 28, the sub-inspector visited Pune in connection with the probe against Mr. Deshmukh. The accused lawyer handed over to him an iPhone 12 Pro in exchange for some details related to the investigation and the preliminary enquiry. Since then, the CBI official had been receiving bribes from the lawyer at regular intervals, alleges the FIR.
The accused official shared copies of different documents related to the investigation, including the memorandum of proceedings, sealing-unsealing memorandum, statements, seizure memos, with the lawyer via WhatsApp on several occasions. The agency alleged that papers were leaked for the purpose of subverting the probe against Mr. Deshmukh.
