CBI grills Mumbai Police chief Sanjay Pandey for 'influencing' Param Bir Singh in Anil Deshmukh's case
Mumbai Police chief Sanjay Pandey was questioned by the CBI for allegedly trying to influence Param Bir Singh in connection with the extortion case against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has questioned Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey for allegedly trying to influence former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh in the extortion case against Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
The CBI grilled the newly appointed police commissioner for six hours on Friday for allegedly trying to influence witnesses in the extortion case, officials told India Today.
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had alleged that the then Maharashtra Police’s Director General Sanjay Pandey asked him to take back his complaint against Anil Deshmukh.
Read: Antilia bomb-scare case: Param Bir Singh misled Maha govt, says Anil Deshmukh
Param Bir Singh had earlier submitted an affidavit before the Supreme Court in which he had attached an alleged conversation between him and then Director-General of Police (DGP) Sanjay Pandey.
In the conversation, DGP Pandey allegedly asked Param Bir Singh to withdraw his letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, wherein he had levelled extortion allegations against former Anil Deshmukh.
Param Bir Singh claimed that Sanjay Pandey had promised that he would settle inquiries against him if he said he made those allegations against Anil Deshmukh due to “grievances” and sudden provocation.
After Param Bir Singh was transferred to the Home Guard department, he had shot off a letter against Anil Deshmukh to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, which ultimately led to Deshmukh resigning and a number of cases and inquiries being initiated against Singh himself.
Singh, in his letter to the CM, made allegations that then Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh was extorting money through dismissed police officer Sachin Vaze.
After that, Pandey had allegedly called Singh and told him that he should withdraw his letter and if he did not and continued to fight the system, then there would be more cases against him. Singh had recorded this conversation and filed a petition in the high court asking for the inquiries initiated against him to be dropped.