CBI gives clean chit to ex-Mumbai CP Pam Bir Singh in two more cases

The retired officer had earlier been exonerated in two other criminal cases out of five cases registered against him during the MVA regime

MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has given a clean chit to former Mumbai police commissioner (CP) Param Bir Singh in two extortion cases that were registered against him when the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was in power. The retired officer had earlier been exonerated in two other criminal cases out of five cases registered against him during the MVA regime.

File photo of Param Bir Singh (HT Photo)

All five cases against Singh were taken over by the CBI from the Maharashtra police pursuant to a Supreme Court order dated March 24, 2022. Singh had approached the apex court seeking transfer of all the five cases to an independent agency.

On July 18, the CBI filed its charge sheet in a Thane court in an alleged extortion case registered in 2021 on the basis of a complaint by businessman Ketan Tanna. There was “no prosecutable evidence to attribute criminal liability” on Singh, who served as Thane’s police commissioner during 2015-18, the CBI mentioned in the charge sheet, which sought to prosecute seven other accused, including former encounter specialist and then head of the Thane anti-extortion cell, Pradeep Sharma.

Earlier, on May 19, the CBI filed its supplementary charge sheet in an alleged extortion case registered by the Marine Drive police station on July 21, 2021, based on a complaint from businessman Shyam Sunder Agrawal. The businessman alleged that Singh and the other accused had, in pursuance of a criminal conspiracy, extorted money and properties from him after threatening to implicate him in false cases.

In the supplementary charge sheet submitted in a magistrate court in the city, the CBI sought to prosecute two police officers – deputy commissioner of police Akbar Pathan and retired assistant commissioner of police Siddharth Shinde. The agency gave a clean chit to Singh and retired assistant commissioner of police Sanjay Patil as “no prosecutable evidence” revealing their involvement in the crime had surfaced during the probe.

In the charge sheet filed in the case in February 2022, the police had named four other persons, including then police inspectors Asha Korke and Nandkumar Gopale, and private individuals Sanjay Punamiya and Sunil Jain.

On March 15, 2022, the competent authority had granted sanction to prosecute Korke and Gopale under the Code of Criminal Procedure, while the sanction required for prosecution of Pathan and Shinde is still awaited from the state government. The sanctions will be submitted as and when they are received, the CBI informed the court.

When contacted on Saturday, Param Bir Singh said, “All the five cases registered against me and taken over subsequently by the CBI were false, fabricated.”

The cases were lodged at the behest of a former state minister and a former IPS officer, Singh told HT. The motive behind the cases was to harass him, and some criminal elements had been contacted to implicate him in the cases, he said.