Sharad Pawar 'shocked' after Param Bir Singh apprehends threat from Mumbai Police

Addressing a press conference in Satara on Wednesday, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar expressed his shock at Param Bir Singh's claim that he faces a threat from Mumbai Police. Denying rumours that he has fled the country, the former Mumbai Police Commissioner's lawyer Puneet Bali informed the Supreme Court on Monday that his client is ready to appear before the CBI in a period of 24 hours. This revelation came after the apex court had refused to grant the IPS officer any protection unless he discloses his location.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar remarked, "I was shocked after reading this. The man who spent most of his life in this state, worked in the police department, who served as the Police Commission of Nagpur, Pune and Mumbai, held such important positions and who has the responsibility of the entire state feels threat (to his life) from his own associates! He apprehends threats from the police force. If this is what he feels, I don't know what to say on this."

During the hearing, Bali quoted transcripts of alleged WhatsApp messages dating back to April in which Maharashtra DGP Sanjay Pandey asked Singh to withdraw his allegations on Anil Deshmukh failing which many cases will be registered against him. The senior advocate also highlighted that the Bombay High Court had dismissed his client's writ petition seeking a CBI probe at the preliminary stage itself. Directing him to join the investigation, the SC granted him interim protection from arrest and agreed to examine his plea pertaining to the transfer of cases against him to CBI.

Param Bir Singh's allegations against Anil Deshmukh

The trouble for former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh started on February 20 when Param Bir Singh levelled 'extortion' charges against him. In a letter addressed to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Singh alleged that the NCP leader had asked Sachin Vaze to extort Rs.100 crore per month from 1750 bars, restaurants, and other establishments in Mumbai. After the HC directed the CBI to carry out a preliminary enquiry into these allegations, Deshmukh resigned as the Home Minister was replaced by Dilip Walse Patil.

Moreover, the ED filed an ECIR against him on May 11 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act for allegedly obtaining illegal gratification which was based on the corruption case registered by the CBI. After skipping its summons on 5 occasions, he finally appeared before the ED at its Mumbai office on November 1 and was taken into custody in the wee hours of the next day. On November 15, a special PMLA court in Mumbai remanded the NCP leader to judicial custody for 14 days.