The Income Tax department on Saturday continued for the second day its searches here at properties and institutes linked to former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in an alleged tax evasion case, local police officials said.

After conducting searches at the NCP leader's houses in Nagpur and Katol and the National Institute of Technology (NIT) at Fetri the day before, IT officials on Saturday reached the Shri Sai Shikshan Sanshta's office in Ramdaspeth area here.

Searches at the NIT at Fetri also continued, officials added.

Teams of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were deployed for the protection of IT officials.

The focus of the investigation was a Rs 4.18 crore donation allegedly received by the Shri Sai Shikshan Sanstha, sources said. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had alleged earlier that the amount was deposited in cash with four Delhi-based companies and these firms then routed it to Shri Sai Shikshan Sanstha Trust, a charitable trust controlled by Deshmukh and his family. The 71-year-old leader is also being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a corruption case related to allegations of bribery made by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh.