Param wrote letter under pressure

Mumbai: Former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh might have written the letter raising corruption allegations against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh "out of some pressure", State Minister and Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said .

In his eight-page letter to CM Uddhav Thackeray, Param claimed Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh wanted police officers to collect Rs 100 crore monthly from bars and hotels. Allegations against Deshmukh pertains to a period when he was hospitalised and hence the question of his resignation does not arise, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said on Monday.

"We got information that Deshmukh was hospitalised at that time in Nagpur. The allegation (by Singh) pertains to exactly the same period when he was in hospital.

There is a hospital certificate," Pawar told reporters in Delhi.

A new controversy has erupted featuring Param Bir Singh with Mumbai Police inspector, Anup S. Dange seeking an inquiry into his connections with "dubious characters" Jitendra Navlani and Bharat Shah who are having underworld links.

In a letter to Maharashtra's Additional Chief Secretary, Home, in February, Dange said that on November 22, 2019, Jeetu Navlani threatened him when the Inspector was trying to get the pubs closed on time in Breach Candy area.

Navlani, the owner of Dirty Buns Sobo club, tried to pressurise the inspector by claiming close links with Param Bir Singh, who was then DG, Anti Corruption.