Shocked, says Maha HM on Param Bir claiming threat to life

Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil on Thursday said he was shocked to know that senior IPS officer Param Bir Singh, who has earlier served as the police commissioner of Mumbai and Thane, should feel a threat to his life.

On the other hand, Nationalist Congress Party leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik hit out at Param Bir Singh, saying the former Mumbai police commissioner finally made an appearance after being declared an absconder by a court.

"I am shocked to know that a person who has held the post of police commissioner of Mumbai and Thane should feel a threat to his life," Walse Patil told reporters in Mumbai.

The home minister was reacting to Singh's plea in the Supreme Court on Monday that he was in hiding as he faces a threat to his life.

Malik said the former Mumbai police commissioner finally made an appearance after being declared an absconder by a court.

"Singh's appearance in Mumbai on Thursday proved that it was necessary that he be declared an absconder...He hasn't reported for duty after he was transferred from the post of Mumbai police commissioner. Singh moved the Supreme Court to get protection from arrest. Nobody will believe his contention in the apex court that he faces a threat to his life," Malik told reporters.

He alleged that Singh levelled false allegations against former home minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh in a 'politically-motivated' case.

Malik said Deshmukh will fight the case in courts and prove his innocence.

The Supreme Court on Monday gave former Singh protection from arrest in connection with inquiries initiated against him by the Maharashtra government, with his counsel informing the court that "he is very much in India but apprehends actions being taken by the state of Maharashtra."

Singh, who has been declared a proclaimed offender by a Mumbai court, reached Mumbai on Thursday.

On his arrival in the city, he said he would join the investigation as directed by the court.

The IPS officer, who is facing several extortion cases in Maharashtra, had told news channels on Wednesday that he was in Chandigarh.

Last week, a magistrate's court in Mumbai had declared Singh a 'proclaimed offender' in an extortion case registered against him and some other police officers in the city.

Singh, currently posted as director general of Home Guards, has not reported to work since May this year, after his transfer from the post of Mumbai police commissioner and his subsequent allegations of corruption against then Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh.

He was transferred after Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze was arrested in the case of an SUV with explosives found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's house, 'Antilia' and the subsequent suspicious death of businessman Mansukh Hiran.

The state police had told the Bombay high court in October that his whereabouts were not known.