An application has been filed before the 37th metropolitan magistrate court by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch for the issuance of a non-bailable warrant against former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh. A hearing is scheduled for October 29.
This may be noted that Singh has been untraceable for some time now and Crime Branch sleuths are looking for him.
Meanwhile, mid-day has reported that the Home Department has asked the relevant authorities to put Param Bir Singh’s salary on hold with immediate effect, as he has been untraceable since May this year.
The former Mumbai Police Commissioner faces five FIRs in Maharashtra, chiefly on the charges of extortion. The anti-corruption bureau has begun two open inquiries against Singh related to corruption allegations levelled against him by two serving police inspectors.
This may be noted that despite being served a few summons, Singh did not turn up. According to The Times of India, the non-bailable warrant will facilitate in declaring Singh an absconder.
The daily mentioned an official as saying that as per the procedure, notices are sent first. In case the person does not respond or is not available, the court first issues a bailable warrant and then a non-bailable warrant. If the person does not turn up even then, the procedure of declaring him/her an absconder begins.
He noted that Param Bir Singh did not appear before the government-appointed Justice (retired) KU Chandiwal Commission of enquiry, the National Investigation Agency, and the Crime Branch.
The Maharashtra government had in March constituted the one-member commission of retired judge Kailash Uttamchand Chandiwal to investigate Singh’s allegations of corruption against the then Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
Singh was removed as Mumbai police chief in March and transferred to the Home Guards, following the Antilia bomb scare case.
In a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the senior IPS officer had claimed that Deshmukh used to ask police officers to extort money from restaurants and bar owners in Mumbai.
