Thane court cancels non-bailable warrant against ex-Mumbai Police chief

Mumbai: A day after he appeared before the Mumbai police crime branch for inquiries, former police commissioner Param Bir Singh on Friday appeared in the Thane Nagar police station for inquiries in connection with an extortion case registered against him. Singh also appeared before the Thane sessions court, which cancelled a non-bailable warrant issued against him. Singh’s lawyer Rajendra Mokashi said he remained present before the court in between his questioning by police, and also provided a surety of ₹15,000.

A senior officer with the Thane Police confirmed that Singh reached the police station at around 10.30 a.m. on Friday for inquiries in a case registered against him by businessman Ketan Tanna in July this year. Singh was questioned from morning till late evening, the officer said.

The other accused in the case include deputy commissioner of police Deepak Devraj, assistant commissioner of Police NT Kadam, retired cop Pradeep Sharma, senior police inspector Rajkumar Kothmire and gangster Ravi Pujari. Tanna alleged that the accused cops extorted crores of rupees from him and his friend, businessman Sonu Jalan, in 2018. Jalan had been arrested in connection with a betting racket by the Thane crime branch’s anti-extortion cell in the same year.

Officials in the known said that Singh was questioned in connection with the allegations made against him, as well as the original case filed by the AEC against Jalan, in which the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) had been invoked. In the presence of senior officers, including deputy commissioner of police (Zone I) Avinash Ambure, Singh was asked about the invoking of the MCOCA as well as other evidence against Jalan.

“He also appeared before the Thane Sessions Court, which had issued a non-bailable warrant against him last month, at around 3.30 p.m., and the court cancelled the warrant. Subsequently, he came back to the police station, and the questioning resumed,” an officer said.

After several hours of questioning, Singh finally left the police station at around 7 p.m. The Supreme Court has granted him blanket protection from arrest in the cases registered against him. Officials said that he might have to be called again for inquiries.

Singh is facing a total of five extortion cases in Maharashtra, two of them in Thane. The Thane police have formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe these two extortion cases.