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Who is Param Bir Singh?
Param Bir Singh, a 1988-batch officer, is a former Police Commissioner of Mumbai. Prior to that, he was posted as the Director General (DG) of the Maharashtra Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB).
He has also served as Thane police commissioner, DCP in several important zones in Mumbai, and Superintendent of Police (SP) of Chandrapur and Bhandara districts in Maharashtra.
In his maiden speech, he ensured the safety of women, apart from cracking down on Underworld activities, extortion, and curbing street crimes.
In his maiden speech, he ensured the safety of women, apart from cracking down on Underworld activities, extortion, and curbing street crimes.
Background
The 56-year-old was born in Chandigarh and completed his graduation in 1983 from Punjab University.
In February 2020, the Maharashtra government appointed Singh as the new Police Commissioner of Mumbai, replacing Sanjay Barve. He was the city's 43rd police commissioner.
During his tenure as the Mumbai police chief, Singh handled several important cases such as the TRP scam and Anvay Naik suicide case and the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Singh was posted as Additional Commissioner of Police, and countered the terrorists in Oberoi-Trident during the 26/11 terror attacks along with Hemant Karkare, the then ATS chief.
Both were also involved in the investigations of the Malegaon blasts case in which Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit are accused. In 2020, Thakur had accused Singh of torturing her in custody.
During his Thane stint, he arrested Iqbal Kaskar, the brother of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and also busted a Rs 2,000 crore drug scandal with international repercussions and links to foreign cartels.
In March 2021, the state government removed Singh as commissioner after a security incident outside the home of businessman Mukesh Ambani.
Extortion case
On November 17, 2021, Mumbai’s Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court declared Singh a proclaimed offender in connection with an extortion case. This was the first instance of a Mumbai police commissioner being declared a proclaimed offender.
The order came following an application filed by Mumbai police’s crime branch which is investigating an August 20 extortion case registered in Goregaon in northwest Mumbai. The FIR named Singh, dismissed assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze and civilians — Sumeet Singh, Alpesh Patel, Vinay Ramnarayan Singh aka Bablu and Riyaz Bhati — for extortion.
The complainant, restaurateur Bimal Agarwal, alleged that the accused extorted Rs 11.92 lakh from him by threatening to register cases against two of his outlets – Boho Restaurant and BCB Bar. Once it took over the investigation, the crime branch arrested Vaze, Sumeet Singh and Alpesh Patel.
The Criminal Investigation Department is investigating the extortion cases registered against Singh at the Marine Drive police station in south Mumbai and Kopri police station in Thane.
The IPS officer faces at least five extortion cases in Maharashtra.
Latest Updates on Param Bir Singh
SC refuses to revoke suspension of former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, says future FIRs too will be transferred to CBI
Waze was also being pressurized in prison to change his statements, Singh, a former Mumbai police commissioner, has alleged
Additional chief metropolitan magistrate S B Bhajipale had on November 17 issued the proclamation order declaring former Singh as an absconder