Mumbai magistrate court issues non-bailable warrant against Param Bir Singh

The court issued the warrant acting on a plea filed by the Mumbai crime branch, which is investigating an extortion case registered against Param Bir Singh and others at Goregaon police station

MumbaiAn additional chief metropolitan magistrate on Saturday issued a non-bailable warrant against former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh, Riyaz Bhati – a purported aide of gangster Dawood Ibrahim – and one Vinay Singh.

Advocates Shekhar Jagtap and Sairuchita Chowdhury, who appeared for crime branch, informed the court that they had already served summons at Param Bir Singh’s Mumbai and Chandigarh addresses, asking him to join the investigations. He, however, has not appeared before the investigators, they added.

The magistrate, Sudhir Bhajipale, issued the warrant acting on a plea filed by the Mumbai crime branch, which is investigating an extortion case registered against Singh and others at Goregaon police station.

Advocates Shekhar Jagtap and Sairuchita Chowdhury, who appeared for the crime branch, informed the court that they had already served summons at Singh’s Mumbai and Chandigarh addresses, asking him to join the investigations. He, however, has not appeared before the investigators, they added.

Bhati and Vinay Singh were also served notices under 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code for appearance before the investigating officer and they, too, have failed to honour the notice, said Jagtap and Chowdhury. Their anticipatory bail applications have been rejected by the sessions court, the lawyers pointed out, and submitted copies of the relevant documents, summons and notices for perusal of the magistrate court.

Goregaon police had in August registered an extortion case against Singh, dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Vaze – arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Antilia explosives scare and Mansukh Hiran murder cases – and Sumeet Singh, Alpesh Patel, Vinay Singh and Bhati.

The case was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by hotelier and civic contractor Bimal Agarwal, alleging that the accused extorted ₹11.92 lakh from him. They also threatened to register cases against his hotel restaurant and bar.

The crime branch has already arrested Sumeet Singh, who allegedly used to collect money for Vaze. According to crime branch officers, Vaze is the prime accused on whose orders money was collected by Sumeet Singh from Agarwal.

On Thursday, the chief judicial magistrate court at Thane had issued a warrant against Singh in an extortion case registered against him at Thane Nagar police station.

Meanwhile, the magistrate court on Saturday also rejected an application by Vaze for staying the execution of the production warrant issued against him by the additional chief metropolitan magistrate court. Vaze’s counsel Raunak Naik had argued that he had still not recovered after the bypass surgery performed on him on September 13. The magistrate court had issued a production warrant against Vaze, after which the special NIA court has allowed the crime branch to take him in their custody for interrogation.