Central Agencies Trying To Save Mumbai Ex-Top Cop: Maharashtra Minister

Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik today alleged that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other Central agencies are trying to save former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh whom he dubbed the "mastermind" of the Antilia bomb scare case.

Mr Malik said it was evident that the NIA is under the pressure of the Union government as no charge sheet has been filed in this matter.

"It was Param Bir Singh who was the mastermind behind placing explosives (in SUV) near the house of a businessman in Mumbai. He had recorded his statement before the NIA and went missing for a long time. There was a deal between Singh, the BJP and the Central government to defame the MVA government," Mr Malik alleged.

He claimed that senior NCP leader and then home minister of Maharashtra, Anil Deshmukh, was falsely implicated after false allegations were levelled against him.

Anil Deshmukh is in judicial custody in connection with a money laundering case being probed against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

"Now, the NIA and other Central agencies are trying to save Param Bir Singh. The NIA will have to tell the truth one day. Truth cannot remain hidden for a long time," the NCP chief spokesperson said.

Mr Malik said dismissed police officer Sachin Waze has told the Justice KU Chandiwal (retd) commission that he didn't pay any money to Anil Deshmukh, who was the home minister at that time.

The commission was set up by the Maharashtra government after Param Bir Singh alleged that Deshmukh had asked some officers of Mumbai Police to collect Rs 100 crore per month from bar owners in the metropolis.

Param Bir Singh, now suspended, is also facing a string of extortion cases in Mumbai.

"The NIA mentions a meeting. Statement of its driver was also recorded. The details also mentioned an Innova car involved in such a meeting but despite all these details indicating the involvement of Param Bir Singh, the NIA does not mention his name anywhere. This is suspicious," he said apparently referring to the Antilia case.

Waze is the prime accused in parking an explosives-laden SUV outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani's south Mumbai residence in February this year and in the murder case of Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)