₹20 crore extortion case: Param Bir Singh co-accused in CID custody till November 16

A city magistrate court on Tuesday sent two police officers accused in the ₹20 crore extortion case related to former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh to state Crime Investigation Department (CID) custody till November 16

A city magistrate court on Tuesday sent two police officers accused in the ₹20 crore extortion case related to former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh to state Crime Investigation Department (CID) custody till November 16. The CID also filed an application before the court seeking a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Singh, who already has two NBWs against him.

A city magistrate court on Tuesday sent two police officers accused in the ₹20 crore extortion case related to Param Bir Singh to state CID custody. (HT PHOTO)

Police inspectors Nandkumar Gopale, currently with the police training centre, Khandala, and Asha Korke – posted at local arms, Naigaon – were named the co-accused along with Singh in the first information report (FIR) registered at Marine Drive police station following a complaint by Bhayander-based developer Shyamsunder Agrawal. Three other police personnel have been named as the other accused in the case – deputy commissioner of police Akbar Pathan, and two assistant commissioners of police Shrikant Shinde and Sanjay Patil.

Gopale, a 20-year veteran with Mumbai Police, played a key role in high-profile cases including the Indian Premier League betting case in 2013; the Indian Mujaheddeen case in 2008 when he, along with a future Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria, arrested 20 Indian Mujahideen operatives that were allegedly responsible for bomb blasts India since 2005; and crime reporter J Dey’s murder case in 2011. Korke, a senior police officer said, is a low-profile inspector with the local arms unit.

Special public prosecutor Shekhar Jagtap said the accused officers had allegedly extorted ₹50 lakh in cash from Sharad Agrawal, the complainant’s nephew, by threatening to arrest his uncle in a false case. “This money was arranged via a hawala operator named Momin, an old associate of Sanjay Punamiya, a co-accused in the case and also Agarwal’s ex-business partner,” Jagtap said.

He added, “CID officers established the link between the arrested officers, the hawala operator and the main accused Punamiya. CID has obtained scientific evidence against the two officers that indicated that they have accepted ₹50 lakh in cash.”

In his FIR, Agrawal had alleged that earlier in 2021, Juhu police had filed an extortion case against him, accusing him of having links with underworld don Chhota Shakeel. Later, the police applied Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the case. Agrawal claimed that, based on this false case, Singh and his junior officers extorted money from him at the behest of Punamiya, the main accused in the case.

A few days later, Gopale, who was then the Mumbai crime branch unit 9 in-charge, raided Agrawal’s Bhayandar and Vile Parle homes. During these raids, the accused police officers had illegally seized some partnership documents and other papers without making any official entry. Later, the photocopies of these documents were found in Punamiya’s possession, stated the FIR filed by Marine Drive police.

Former Thane and Mumbai police commissioner Singh is wanted by multiple law enforcement agencies and the CID is probing at least three of the five FIRs filed against him. “There are two non-bailable warrants issued against Singh. On Tuesday, we urged court to issue an NBW as well,” said Jagtap. A look-out circular (LoC) is already in force against Singh. Apart from this, two open inquiries have been initiated against the 1988-batch senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer by the state anti-corruption bureau (ACB) over the corruption allegations made against him by two serving police inspectors.