Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Mr. Param Bir Singh wrote an eight-page letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr. Uddhav Thackeray, on Saturday. In the letter, he alleged that the state Home Minister, Mr. Anil Deshmukh had indulged in “malpractices” and used to call police officers to his official residence and give them a “collection target” asking them to collect funds worth at least Rs 100 crore per month from bars, restaurants, and other establishments.
The allegations by the ex-Mumbai top cop were made just a day after Home Minister, Mr. Deshmukh had said that officer Param Bir Singh was moved out as Mumbai Police Commissioner so that cases pertaining to Waze were probed without obstruction.
“An unsigned letter in the name of Param Bir Singh, commandant general of Home Guards” was received on the official email ID of the chief minister’s secretariat in the afternoon, the Chief Minister’s Office said. The email ID from where the letter was sent was being verified and the state home department was trying to contact Mr. Singh. The verification was needed as the officer’s email id in the official record was different.
In return, the Home Minister, in a detailed rejoinder, accused Mr. Singh of ‘lying’, making the false accusations as part of a ‘conspiracy’ hatched to discredit him and the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to save himself from any action in the SUV case and the case related to the death of Mansukh Hiren.
However, IPS Param Bir Singh confirmed that the letter was sent from his email ID. This statement comes hours after Chief Minister’s Office said that the letter purportedly sent by Singh, who has now been posted as DG, Home Guards, was unsigned and came through an email address that was different from the one listed as Mr. Singh’s personal email ID in official records.
