Mumbai’s former Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh on Saturday made a sensational allegation that the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government tried to “implicate and arrest” then Urban Development Minister and current chief minister Eknath Shinde and  then the leader of Opposition and current deputy chief minister Devendra Fadanvis.

“Then State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had brought pressure on me to arrest Eknath Shinde and some BJP leaders. .... Instructions were also there to implicate and arrest Devendra Fadnavis. .. At some point in time, instructions were also there from the top bosses in the MBA to only implicate and arrest me in that case but to implicate Devendra Fadnavis, the then leader of the opposition,” Mumbai’s ex-CP said, alleging that instructions to arrest Fadnavis had come directly from Anil Deshmukh, Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray. 

“At a meeting held at Sharad Pawar’s residence “Silver Oak” where then state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh was present, pressure was brought on to implicate the then Opposition leaders, including Fadnavis.

But, I refused to carry out the orders, saying that I can not register fake cases against any one,” Singh said.

In an interview to a news agency, Singh also alleged that he was under pressure to arrest a senior BJP leader in a Mumbai bank irregularities case.        

Singh is believed to be close to Fadnavis. The latest allegations by Singh should be seen in the context of the running tussle between Singh and Anil Deshmukh.

It may be recalled that Singh had created a sensation on March 20, 2021 by alleging that State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had asked now arrested and dismissed police officer Sachin Vaze to “collect” a staggering Rs 100 crore per month from bars, restaurants and other sources in Mumbai

Deshmukh had resigned from his post as the State Home Minister on April 5 2021 within hours after the Bombay High Court ordered a “Preliminary Enquiry” (PE) by the CBI into the serious charges of corruption made against him by Mumbai’s former Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.

Based on a case of corruption registered by the CBI, Deshmukh was arrested by the ED November 2, 2021 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on charges of bribery, conspiracy and misuse of office.

Deshmukh was behind the bars for 14 months before he was released on bail December 28, 2022. The development had come fortnight after the Bombay High Court granted him bail in an alleged corruption case registered against him by the CBI.

Following his allegations against Deshmukh, Singh was  booked for several serious offences registered against him in four different police stations in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane district. He was later suspended from service in view of serious offences registered against him and the disciplinary proceedings  launched into “certain irregularities and lapses” committed by him, including his unauthorised absence from duty.