Mumbai Ex-Top Cop Param Bir Singh Gets Clean Chit From Maharashtra Govt

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has dropped all charges against former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh. The Eknath Shinde-led government revoked the suspension orders issued against Singh in December 2021.

Singh was suspended by the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government for “indiscipline and other irregularities”. They had also initiated a departmental inquiry against him.

Singh was dismissed as the Mumbai police chief and transferred to the Home Guard in 2021 after an SUV with explosives was discovered near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence in south Mumbai and police officer Sachin Waze was arrested in the case.

Singh had accused the then state home minister Anil Deshmukh of asking Sachin Waze to collect Rs 100 crore from hotels and bars in Mumbai every month. However, Deshmukh denied these charges, claiming that Singh was attempting to escape action against him for security lapses outside Ambani’s Mumbai house, where a bomb scare took place on February 25, 2021.

Singh was also facing several extortion and corruption charges. He was accused of extorting money from a builder during his time as the Thane Police commissioner from January 2018 to February 2019. Singh allegedly threatened to frame the builder in “serious criminal cases”.

Another extortion case was registered against Singh on the complaint of builder-cum-hotelier Bimal Agrawal. Agrawal alleged that Singh extorted money from him for not conducting a raid on two bars and restaurants, which he ran in partnership. Singh also forced Agrawal to buy two smartphones worth around Rs 2.92 lakh for them. The incident allegedly occurred between January 2020 and March 2021.