Extortion case against ex-Mumbai top cop: Hearing on DCP’s plea on Aug 5

Akbar Pathan sought the quashing of an FIR registered by Marine Drive police in extortion and cheating case

The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday adjourned the hearing of the petition filed by deputy police commissioner (DCP) Akbar Pathan, seeking the quashing of a first information report (FIR) registered by Marine Drive police.

another FIR was filed against Singh for extortion at Thane Nagar police station. (HT FILE)

The FIR has named Pathan as a co-accused along with former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh and four other officers in an extortion and cheating case based on a complaint by Bhayandar developer Sham Sundar Agarwal.

The adjournment came after additional public prosecutor Jayesh Yagnik for Mumbai Police sought time for a special counsel to appear on their behalf and gave an oral assurance that no coercive action would be taken against the Pathan till the next hearing.

The other police officers named in the case apart are assistant commissioners of police (ACP) Sanjay Patil and Shrikant Shinde and inspectors Asha Korke and Nandkumar Gopale.

A division bench of justice SS Shinde and justice NJ Jamadar, while hearing Pathan’s petition, was informed that apart from the police officers, two civilians – Sanjay Punamia and Sunil Jain – who were also named in the FIR are in police custody, and hence, the petitioner sought protection. Punamiya and Jain have also filed petitions in HC seeking quashing of the FIR against them.

According to Agarwal’s complaint, Punamiya, Jain and the police officers had connived together and falsely implicated him in a case, and then demanded ₹50 lakh and a 2BHK (bedroom-hall-kitchen) flat in Bhayandar from him to prevent his arrest under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

Pathan’s counsel, advocate Niteen Pradhan, argued that the FIR was registered arbitrarily to hamper the probe to unravel Agarwal’s alleged underworld connection. Pradhan added that as Pathan was a DCP, the FIR could not have been registered against him directly and a preliminary inquiry was required to be carried out initially to ascertain if the allegations made against a public servant are true.

He said the Prevention of Corruption Act prescribes a preliminary probe, and then an open inquiry can be conducted. Once the authorities were satisfied, they could grant sanction to register an FIR.

Refuting the allegations of Pathan’s role in the extortion case, Pradhan argued that if the FIR was not quashed and the probe against Agarwal was scuttled, it would demoralise the department for investigating instances in which the underworld was involved in an organised crime.

The bench has posted the matter for hearing to August 5.

Meanwhile, another FIR was filed against Singh for extortion at Thane Nagar police station. Singh has been booked with 27 others, including senior cops, underworld gangsters and journalists. Singh, along with the then DCP Deepak Devraj, ACP NT Kadam, ex-cop Pradeep Sharma, senior inspector Rajkumar Kothmire and gangster Ravi Pujari were booked after a complaint filed by a man named Ketan Tanna, 54.

An officer from Thane Nagar Police station confirmed the development and said, “We have booked 28 people including Singh and other cops under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The statements of the complainant and two others have been recorded so far.”

Tanna, who runs a construction business, claimed that Singh and the other accused extorted crores of rupees by threatening to get him booked in a fake case. They allegedly also threatened to carry out his encounter on not paying the money.

Tanna in his complaint said, “From January 2018 to February 2019, the accused extorted ₹1.25 crore from me and ₹3.45 crore from my associate and bookie Sonu Jalan. They also demanded high-end watches and other expensive gifts. On Singh’s directives, the accused also threatened me in my family’s presence.”

Jalan, who had also given his statement to the police, said, “Singh, Sharma and Kothmire, along with some more officers, had arrested me under fake charges.”

This is the third FIR against Singh, as cases of extortion have also been registered against him in Kopri (Thane) and Marine Drive police stations.

At Kopri police station, Singh, DCP Parag Manere and three civilians were booked after the complainant, Sharad Agrawal, who deals a real estate business stated in his complaint that Singh had extorted ₹2 crore from him and also forced him to hand over some plots of land to them.