Param Bir Singh Letter Bomb

The court order says: "Singh is required to appear before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Esplanade Court, Mumbai, or Investigating Officer to answer the said complaint within 30 days." It said that a complaint has been lodged before the Court under various sections of the Indian Penal Code related to extortion and criminal conspiracy, and the court is satisfied that the accused, Singh.

Asking about Singh’s whereabouts, a bench headed by Justice S.K. Kaul asked senior advocate Puneet Bali, representing Singh, "Where are you... within the country or outside. First, I want to know where are you." In reply Bali assured the court that his client’s whereabouts would be known to counsel-on-record. Justice Kaul sought a response from the counsel-on record, who replied that he is not aware about Singh's current location.

The revelations came two days after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) - based on a CBI FIR arising out of Singh's allegations - questioned and later arrested Deshmukh, who is now in the agency's custody till November 6. The commission sources reveal that, barring his original March letter to the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Singh has apparently declined to share any more evidence pertaining to the allegations he had levelled against the then Home Minister Deshmukh, who quit in April.

The decision of the Justice (retd) K.U. Chandiwal Commission came after the state CID submitted that the officer could not be traced either in Mumbai or Chandigarh to serve and executive the arrest warrant issued on September 7. It has now set a fresh date - October 6 - for Singh to appear before it to give evidence, failing which the IPS officer could face a non-bailable arrest warrant.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hemant Gupta said: "We are of the view that the nature of allegations, the personas involved and the seriousness of the allegations do require an independent agency to enquire into the matter. It is a matter of public confidence given the factual scenario."

A CBI source related to probe told IANS: "The agency sleuths have recorded the statement of Vaze, who is presently in NIA custody."The source said that the CBI is also recording the statement of Singh, who dropped a letter bomb on March 20, accusing Deshmukh of asking Vaze and other Mumbai Police personnel to extort Rs 100 crore 'monthly' from bars, hotels and restaurants.

"The real faces of those who are trying to sabotage the state government are coming to the fore. A new trend has begun of people in jail writing letters which are used to hammer the government. There are many others in jail and a lot can be written from them also. This kind of dirty politics is unprecedented in the history of state and the country," Raut said.