The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has submitted a closure report in an extortion case against former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh (IPS:1988:MH) and four others. The case, registered in Thane in July 2021, accused Singh, a deputy commissioner of police, and two others. The CBI, in its report filed on January 18, stated that the complainant failed to provide specific details of alleged meetings and money transactions. Furthermore, witnesses to a settlement between two parties did not support the complainant’s claims. The agency emphasized that the allegations lacked corroboration from independent evidence.
The CBI has approached a Thane court, seeking the closure of the case registered under section 384 (extortion) among other charges. The accused also include then Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime, Parag Manere, builder Sanjay Punamiya, his associate Sunil Jain, and private individual Manoj Ghotkar.
The case originated from a complaint by Sharad Agrawal, who alleged that his uncle, builder Shyam Sundar Agrawal, was arrested by the Thane crime branch in November 2016 based on a complaint from RTI activist Milan Gandhi. Gandhi accused Shyam’s firm of cheating the state government through a bogus ULC (urban land ceiling) certificate related to a 23,340-square metre plot at Bhayandar.
