Mumbai police summons former cop Param Bir Singh for questioning in extortion case

The former cop is facing at least five criminal cases in Maharashtra.

Former police commissioner Param Bir Singh is summoned by the Mumbai police to appear before the cops on Tuesday, for questioning in connection with an extortion case. The notice was sent on October 9 amid reports claiming that Singh has left the country.

Former police commissioner Param Bir Singh.(HT Photo)

The former cop is facing at least five criminal cases in Maharashtra.

The crime branch of Mumbai Police is probing an extortion case registered against Singh on the basis of a complaint by a city hotelier and civic contractor. Besides Singh, dismissed police officer Sachin Waze, Sumit Singh alias Chintu, Alpesh Patel, Vinay Singh alias Babloo and Riyaz Bhati are named as accused in the FIR.

On October 9, a police team went to Singh's flat in the Nilima building in the Malabar Hill area and pasted a notice outside, asking him to appear before police for questioning. The notice was pasted outside the house as he was not present at the residence.

On October 5, news agency ANI had reported that Singh may have left the country before the Lookout Circular (LOC) was issued against him. It is also possible that he fled India with a forged passport, it reported quoting officials of investigating agencies.

A person is not allowed to cross immigration at any airport if they have a lookout notice against them. The LoC was issued against Singh in July.

Recently, Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil said that the investigative agencies are unaware of Singh's whereabouts. "I've heard something like that but as a government officer, he can't go abroad without government clearance,” Patil said on speculation that Singh might have escaped the country.

Param Bir Singh was shunted out as Mumbai police chief and transferred to the Home Guard after Waze's arrest in the case of an SUV with explosives found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's south Mumbai residence.

In the later course of the investigation, Singh also accused then state home minister Anil Deshmukh of asking Waze to collect ₹100 crore from hotels and bars in Mumbai every month, a charge which Deshmukh denies.

Subsequently, while Deshmukh resigned, police registered four cases of alleged extortion against Singh in Mumbai and Thane. A case under the SC-ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act is also pending against Singh.

(With agency inputs)