CBI brings Param Bir Singh and Sanjay Pandey face to face

Sanjay Pandey (left) and Param Bir Singh

The Central Bureau of Investigation brought Mumbai's two former police commissioners - Param Bir Singh and Sanjay Pandey - face to face on Monday as part of its probe into the alleged demand for money by Maharashtra's ex-home minister Anil Deshmukh. The case was registered against Deshmukh after Singh said the former minister had asked him to collect R100 crore from bars and other establishments.

The agency made the former top cops confront over Singh's allegation that Pandey, who was then the state's director-general of police (DGP), had asked him to take back his complaint against Deshmukh. Singh, who had approached the high court, had said that the conversation happened on WhatsApp. Following Singh's allegations, Pandey had withdrawn himself from the investigation and started a departmental probe against Singh.

Sources said the statements of Singh and Pandey could be used in the supplementary charge sheet in the case. They said Pandey was questioned based on the recordings submitted by his predecessor to ascertain if he was trying to influence Singh at the behest of the then MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray. The grilling by the agency lasted for several hours.

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Following his retirement last month, Pandey faces two cases by CBI and a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate.
During Pandey's tenure as the DGP of Maharashtra, several cases of extortion were registered against Singh which were later transferred to the CBI on the orders of the Supreme Court. Singh was also suspended by the state government based on those FIRs.

More ED summons for Pandey

The Enforcement Directorate has issued a third summons to Pandey after he skipped the second in connection with a money laundering case registered against him following the FIR by the CBI over alleged illegal phone-tapping of NSE officials from 2009 to 2017. The phones were allegedly tapped by iSEC Services Limited in which Pandey was a director till 2006. His son and mother, who are on the company's board, have also been named in the FIR.