Maharashtra extortion racket: Probe panel issues bailable warrant against Param Bir Singh

Mumbai, Sep 07: An inquiry commission headed by a retired high court judge on Tuesday issued a bailable warrant against former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh for not appearing before it.

The Maharashtra government in March this year formed a one-member commission of Justice (retd) Kailash Uttamchand Chandiwal to conduct a probe into corruption allegations levelled by Singh against the then state home minister Anil Deshmukh.

The commission had issued summons to Singh multiple times to appear before it, but he failed to do so, Hence, the panel issued a bailable warrant against him, a government lawyer said.

Earlier, the commission had thrice imposed fines on Singh - Rs 5,000 in June and Rs 25,000 on two occasions last month - for failing to appear before it.

Days after he was shunted out as Mumbai police commissioner and transferred to the Home Guards in March, Singh claimed in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that Deshmukh used to ask police officers to collect money from restaurant and bar owners in Mumbai.

Deshmukh, an NCP leader who resigned from the post of state home minister in April, has denied the allegations. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are probing the allegations made against Deshmukh by the senior IPS officer.