10 August,2024 05:54 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh said he is willing for a narco test with former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. File Pic
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh has alleged that there were instructions to arrest him in the urban land ceiling (ULC) case and claimed that a senior police officer was getting instructions from then Chief Minister (CM) Udhhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leaders Sharad Pawar and Anil Deshmukh to implicate him. He has further alleged there was an attempt to implicate Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis, who is now Maharashtra's Deputy CM and well as current state CM Eknath Shinde, news agency ANI reported.
In an interview with ANI, Singh rejected allegations levelled against him by Deshmukh as baseless and said he is willing for narco test with the former Maharashtra Home Minister.
"Very shocking things have come to my notice... False cases were registered against me and they [Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government] had tried to arrest me. In the ULC case, the IO (investigating officer) was Assistant Commissioner of Police Sardar Patil, who has now retired. He was directly getting instructions from Sanjay Pandey (senior cop), who was being instructed by Anil Deshmukh, Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray," Singh said.
"Instructions were there not only to implicate and arrest me in that case but also to implicate Devendra Fadnavis, the then leader of opposition (LoP) and the present deputy CM. Another very shocking thing that has come to my notice from the evidence which is available with me now. Instructions were there to implicate and arrest Eknath Shinde in the ULC case. The instructions have gone directly from Sanjay Pandey to Patil at the instance of his superior whom I have already named," he added.
Singh alleged that pressure was mounted on him to register a case against BJP leader Pravin Darekar in the Mumbai Bank case but he refused as the case had been closed after investigation.
He alleged pressure from some leaders of MVA government leaders in some other cases also.
"...Another meeting was called by Uddhav Thackeray where Anil Deshmukh was also present and they had tried to pressure me into booking Pravarin Darekar, then LoP in Vidhan Parishad. They wanted to book him in the Mumbai Bank case. I said that the case has been investigated and closed and I will not take action under pressure nor register a false case against any politician or anyone else."
Singh said that the corruption allegation made by him against Deshmukh was "not politically motivated" or made on the behest of anyone.
He was referring to Deshmukh's allegation against Singh with relation to a complaint filed by the former top cop in April 2021. Singh had submitted a complaint in writing to Thackeray, Pawar as well as the Governor to "bring out the malpractice of Anil Deshmukh as a Home Minister in the state where he was indulging in an extortion racket and forcing officers to collect money for him" According to Singh, the target was Rs 100 crore for Mumbai city cops while that for the rest of the state was probably much more.
"This allegation or complaint was made by me not now, it was made more than three years ago when the then government and then CM had not responded to my plaint which earlier I had brought to their notice in person. When they had not taken any cognisance to it, I wrote to them about this. While no action was taken, they instead started targeting me. The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) conducted a preliminary inquiry, and when they had enough evidence, it was converted into an FIR (first information report). Anil Deshmukh was arrested in the case. He was charge sheeted by CBI and ED (Enforcement Directorate) and was inside [the jail] for a long time. Now he's out and suddenly out of the blue, after three years, he is making these baseless and wild allegations against me. I don't understand what is the reason," he added.
Singh said he has stayed away from the media after approaching the court and has made his submissions there but was forced to come out in the open owing to Deshmukh's allegations against him.
Last week, Deshmukh alleged that the corruption charges against him were made by dismissed police inspector Sachin Waze and Singh three years ago on the instruction of Fadnavis. He also had claimed that Fadnavis directed Singh to make the allegations in a bid to topple the government led by Thackeray.
Deshmukh resigned in April 2021 following Singh's allegations of corruption against him when the MVA government was in power in the state. Singh had accused Deshmukh of setting a monthly target to collect Rs 100 crore from the bars and restaurants in Mumbai.
The former Mumbai Police Commissioner said that he was ready for a narco test and also challenged Deshmukh to take it.
Singh was suspended in December 2021 when the MVA government was in office. He retired in June 2022. Last year in May, the Maharashtra government, led by Shinde, dropped all the charges against him and also revoked his suspension.
(With ANI inputs)
