Thane:- Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh has been cleared of extortion charges after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) submitted a closure report in a Thane court, citing lack of evidence.
The case, originally filed in July 2021 at Kopri Police Station by businessman Sharad Agarwal, alleged that Singh and others had extorted ₹2 crore to suppress a land violation under the Urban Land Ceiling Act involving Agarwal’s uncle. However, the CBI investigation concluded that the accusations were unsubstantiated.
According to the report submitted to the Chief Judicial Magistrate on January 18, 2024, the CBI found:
No independent or corroborative evidence to back the complainant’s claims, which were solely based on oral allegations.
Significant delay in filing – the alleged extortion occurred in 2016–17, but the complaint was lodged five years later, weakening its credibility.
Testimonies from witnesses involved in a related land settlement stated that there was no pressure or coercion; all transactions appeared to be part of a standard business agreement.
Proper documentation was found for all property dealings, with no signs of unlawful influence by Singh or any co-accused.
This was one of several FIRs filed against Singh in 2021, following his explosive allegations against then-Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and the controversy surrounding police officer Sachin Vaze’s arrest in the Ambani security scare case.
The court will now review the CBI’s closure report. For now, Singh has been formally exonerated in this particular extortion case.
