Param Bir Singh, the former Mumbai Police Commissioner and senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, is likely to be suspended on Thursday for “indiscipline and other irregularities”, a report said. According to Times Now, the suspension has been cleared by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and the order is expected to be issued today.
On November 29, a report in Hindustan Times stated that the Maharashtra government has accepted the report of the Debashish Chakraborty committee on the departmental inquiry against Param Bir Singh. The committee found Singh responsible for dereliction of duty in the Antilia bomb scare case.
In October, senior IAS officer Chakraborty submitted a report holding Singh responsible for violating the All India Civil Services Rules. According to the committee, there were serious lapses in the handling of the Antilia case. The then Mumbai police commissioner was also accused of shielding officers such as Sachin Waze.
Param Bir Singh, who was recently declared an ‘offender’ by the local Magistrate court, arrived in Mumbai in November and joined the police investigation in an alleged extortion case registered against him.
Singh appeared in Kandivali Police Station on November 25 to join the probe as ordered by the Supreme Court, a day after informing the media that he was in Chandigarh.
Since last May, the IPS officer was ‘untraceable’. He faces at least five extortion cases and is being probed by a government-appointed panel.
He has been granted interim protection against arrest until December 6 by the apex court.
A major row after the discovery of an SUV with 20 gelatin sticks near the home of Mukesh Ambani and the death of its owner, Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran, had led to Singh’s transfer.
Later, Singh stirred up controversy by writing to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray accusing the then Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption. Deshmukh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate and is currently in judicial custody.
Since his transfer as Commandant-General of the Maharashtra State Home Guards, Singh has been ‘off-duty’ for nearly six months.
