Extortion case against Param Bir Singh transferred to Maharashtra CID

The extortion case registered by Marine Drive police against former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh and eight others including six police officers has been transferred for further investigation to Maharashtra criminal investigation department (CID). The case was being investigated by a special investigation team (SIT).

The extortion case registered by Marine Drive police against former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh and eight others including six police officers has been transferred for further investigation to Maharashtra criminal investigation department (CID). The case was being investigated by a special investigation team (SIT).

Former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh and six other police personnel have been booked in the case. (HT FILE)

A senior officer, who was part of the SIT, confirmed the development and said, “The official order has come from the government but papers related to the case are yet to be handed over to state CID”.

The SIT was formed in the last week of July to probe two first information reports (FIR), one of which was registered at Marine Drive police station in July against Singh, crime branch deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Akbar Pathan and five other cops based on a complaint by Bhayander-based builder Shyamsunder Agrawal who alleged ₹15-crore extortion by Singh and his subordinates. The other is a Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) case registered by Juhu police against Agrawal in February for his alleged links with underworld gangster Chhota Shakeel. Agrawal has alleged that based on this false case, Singh and his subordinates extorted money from him at the behest of his former business partner Sanjay Punamiya.

Only the Marine Drive case has been transferred to CID while the MCOCA case is still with SIT for investigation, said a police officer.

The SIT is headed by a DCP-rank officer while an assistant commissioner of police (ACP)-rank officer would be the chief investigation officer. The SIT will directly report to Mumbai Police chief Hemant Nagrale and joint commissioner of police, law and order, Vishwas Nangre Patil.

Singh is currently facing four FIRs — one with Marine Drive police, while three other FIRs are being investigated by the Thane Police.

According to the FIR at Marine Drive police station, the complainant Agrawal, 57, claimed he had done several real estate projects in Borivli, Bhayander and Gorai between 2016 and 2011 in partnership with Punamiya, but due to complications, conflicts and profit-sharing disputes, the two ended their partnership in 2011. He alleged that Punamiya has been registering false cases against him since then and has filed 18 such cases in Mumbai and Thane. Agrawal has cleared his name in 14 of these cases.

In the MCOCA case, Punamiya alleged that Agrawal threatened him for extortion at the behest of gangster Chhota Shakeel between November 2016 and December 2020. MCOCA sections were invoked in the case in March 2021.