Ex-Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh booked for extortion
The Mumbai Police on Thursday booked former city Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh and seven others for extortion and cheating following a builder's complaint. The builder has claimed that Singh and others had demanded Rs. 15 crore from him to withdraw some cases against him. The case was registered by the Marine Drive Police and the FIR names five other police officers.
The complainant, Sham Sundar Agarwal, said he was arrested after being falsely implicated in a case. The cops then allegedly demanded money to withdraw the charges registered against him. Agarwal has submitted audio recordings of his conversations with the cops where police officials can be heard demanding money, The Indian Express reported. He also named two of his business partners in the FIR.
Sham Sundar Agarwal's claim was also corroborated by a police official, who told The Indian Express, "A person had approached them early this year alleging that he had been receiving threat calls. Subsequently, Agarwal's role was identified and he was arrested."
Besides Singh, five police officers are named in the FIR: Deputy Commissioner Akbar Pathan, ACP Sanjay Patil, Shrikant Shinde, and inspectors Asha Korke and Nandkumar Gopale. Two of Agarwal's partners, Sunil Jain and Sanjay Punamia, have been arrested by the police, ANI reported. The builder alleged that Jain and Punamia had conspired with police officials to extort money from him.
The latest development could be another setback for Singh, who was booked in a case under the Atrocities Act this April based on the complaint of a serving police inspector from Akola. In March, he was also dropped as Mumbai Police Commissioner and transferred as the DG-Home Guard after dismissed police officer Sachin Waze was arrested in the Ambani bomb scare case.
Singh made headlines in March when he accused former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of asking police officials to extort Rs. 100 crore every month from bars and restaurants. The allegations whipped up a storm and led to Deshmukh's resignation in April, even though he denied any wrongdoing. Recently, the Enforcement Directorate attached Deshmukh's assets worth Rs. 4 crore while probing Singh's allegations.
