The letter alleges Mr Deshmukh had set a target to many officers of collecting Rs 100 crore every month from restaurants, bars and pubs.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Saturday said he was filing a defamation case against ex-Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, who has accused him of running an extortion racket. “Param Bir Singh should prove his allegations. I am filing a defamation suit against him,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
“The former Commissioner of Police, Param Bir Singh, has made false allegations in order to save himself as the involvement of Sachin Waze in Mukesh Ambani and Mansukh Hiren’s case is becoming clearer from the investigation carried out so far and threads are leading to Mr Singh as well,” Mr Deshmukh tweeted after a letter by Param Bir Singh, addressed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, surfaced today.
The letter alleges Mr Deshmukh had set a target to many officers of collecting Rs 100 crore every month from restaurants, bars and pubs.
“The Hon’ble Home Minister expressed to Shri Waze that he had a target to accumulate Rs 100 crores a month. For achieving the aforesaid target, the Hon’ble Home Minister told Shri Waze that there are about 1,750 bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai and if a sum of Rs 2-3 lakh each was collected from each of them, a monthly collection of Rs 40-50 crore was achievable. The Hon’ble Home Minister added that the rest of the collection could be made from other sources,” the letter says.
Param Bir Singh was transferred to Home Guard in a fallout of the investigations against police officer Sachin Waze arrested in the case of a car full of explosives found near Mukesh Ambani’s home Antilia. The investigation was taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from the Mumbai Police after allegations emerged against Sachin Waze linked to the death of a man believed to be the owner of the explosives-filled SUV.
The investigation has become a huge embarrassment for the Maharashtra government, with the opposition BJP accusing Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray of shielding Waze, a controversial cop who was once a member of his Shiv Sena.
On Thursday, Mr Deshmush had said Param Bir Singh was replaced as Mumbai Police Commissioner because some “unforgivable” lapses had been revealed in the Mukesh Ambani security scare probe.