Allegations against Deshmukh are baseless: Builder claims before probe panel
The allegations of corruption leveled against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh are "baseless" and a "vindictive act" of senior IPS officer Param Bir Singh, a Mumbai-based builder, Bimal Agarwal, claimed in his affidavit submitted before an inquiry commission on Wednesday. Agarwal submitted a 26-page affidavit before the one-member commission of Justice (retd) Kailash Uttamchand Chandiwal.
He had filed an extortion case against Singh
In March, the Maharashtra government formed the commission to conduct a probe into corruption allegations leveled by Singh against the then-state home minister and NCP leader Deshmukh. Notably, Agarwal had filed an extortion case against Singh and dismissed police officer Sachin Vaze. Moreover, in his affidavit, the builder described the manner in which Vaze extorted money from him, allegedly at the behest of Singh.
He urged commission to take relevant action against Singh, others
"The entire episode of writing a letter with baseless allegations and attacking Deshmukh and the Maharashtra government is the vindictive act of Singh and Vaze," his affidavit said. He urged the commission to dismiss all the allegations made in the letter (written by Singh to the state chief minister) "in the interest of justice," and recommend relevant action against Singh, Vaze, and others.
Goregaon police had last week registered FIR against Singh
The next hearing into the matter before the inquiry commission will be on August 30. Based on a complaint filed by the 48-year-old builder, the Goregaon police had last week registered an FIR against Singh.
This is the fourth such case against Singh
This is the fourth such case against Singh and the second in Mumbai. Two other cases were filed in Thane city. All these FIRs were registered within a span of one month. "In this case, Vaze and four others - Sumit Singh alias Chintu, Alpesh Patel, Vinay Singh alias Babloo and Riyaz Bhati - have also been named as accused," according to police.
Accused allegedly extorted Rs. 9 lakh from the builder
As per Agarwal's complaint, the accused extorted Rs. 9 lakh from him for not conducting a raid on two bars and restaurants, and also forced him to buy two smartphones worth around Rs. 2.92 lakh for them between January 2020 and March 2021.
Case has been registered under various sections of IPC
Accordingly, the case was filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 384, Section 385 (both pertaining to extortion), Section 34 (common intention) against the six accused, and a probe into the case is on. Singh is currently posted as DG Home Guards and has not been attending office since May as he is on sick leave.
He was shunted out as Mumbai police commissioner in March
Singh was shunted out as Mumbai police commissioner in March this year after the arrest of Vaze in the case of an explosives-laden vehicle found near the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani in Mumbai.
