MAHARASHTRA Director General of Police Sanjay Pandey recently sent a proposal to suspend IPS officer Param Bir Singh and other police officials named in alleged extortion cases, but the State Home Department sought more details, sources said on Saturday. At least four FIRs of ‘extortion’ have been registered against Singh, a former Mumbai Police Commissioner, in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane. The Home Department returned the DGP’s proposal asking for more specific information about the role of the each accused official in these cases, Government sources said. Besides Singh, officials of ranks of Deputy Commissioner of Police and Assistant Commissioner of Police have been named as accused in the FIRs. Singh was transferred from the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner in March 2021 after city police officer Sachin Waze was arrested by the NIA in the case of explosives-laden SUV found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s south Mumbai house ‘Antilia’. Some of the FIRs against Singh, where he and other officials are accused of extorting money from complainants -- builders in some cases -- by threatening to arrest them in false cases , were registered after his allegations against NCP leader Deshmukh.

 

ACB records statement of PI against Param Bir: ACB has recorded the statement of Police Inspector Bhimrao Ghadge in connection with its open inquiry in allegations of corruption against Param Bir Singh, an official said on Saturday. The ACB recently received permission from the Maharashtra Home Department to conduct an open inquiry against Singh against whom an FIR was registered on the charges of criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence and under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on the complaint of Ghadge. In his complaint, Ghadge had accused Singh of corruption and taking money for postings of senior inspectors. Ghadge’s statement was recorded by ACB officials on Friday, the official said without elaborating.

 

Anticipatory bail plea of Waze’s aide rejected: A COURT in Mumbai has denied anticipatory bail in an extortion case to a businessman accused of aiding dismissed police officer Sachin Waze. The extortion case has been registered at Goregaon police station in the metropolis and Waze is the main accused. The pre-arrest bail plea of Riyaz Bhati, accused of delivering money from bars and restaurants in Mumbai to Waze, was rejected on September 16, but a detailed order was made available on Saturday.

 

He said the ACB will record statements of more people in the next few days as part of the open inquiry. The ACB is conducting a separate inquiry against Singh on the complaint of Police Inspector Anup Dange who had claimed the senior IPS officer demanded 2 crore for reinstating him through a relative when he was under suspension. After he was removed as police commissioner of Mumbai in March this year, Singh wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray claiming that then home minister Anil Deshmukh had allegedly asked some Mumbai police officers, including Sachin Waze (now dismissed), to collect Rs 100 crore every month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai. The letter prompted a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against Deshmukh on the orders of the Bombay High Court and forced him to resign. Deshmukh had denied allegations against him.