HOME MINISTER Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday said that transfer of Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh was not a routine administrative move and the decision was taken after probe revealed “serious errors” in the commissioner's office. “This was not an administrative transfer. There are certain things that have come forward during the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) investigations. Being the head of the Mumbai Police force, some serious mistakes have been committed by his officers working in the commissioner's office. These mistakes are serious and unforgivable and that is the reason he was transferred,” Deshmukh said at an event organised by a Marathi newspaper in Mumbai. In a major fallout of the case where a Scorpio with 20 gelatin sticks was found parked outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s south Mumbai residence Antilia on February 25, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday had removed 1988-batch IPS officer Param Bir Singh as the Mumbai commissioner of police and posted him as director general (Home Guards). Deshmukh stressed that during ATS and NIA investigations, certain details have emerged that were “unforgivable” and in order to ensure that a fair and transparent inquiry was conducted, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, in consultation with him, had decided to transfer Singh. “Singh was the Mumbai Police commissioner and this incident happened in his own office. His assistant police inspector-level officer, his subordinates and a driver have been named in the investigation. The decision to remove him was taken to ensure that the investigation being conducted is clean and there are no hurdles,” Deshmukh said. He added that while the involvement of some police officers in the case had come to the fore, “no one – be they junior or senior, who was guilty, would be spared”. The reshuffle in the state police came three days after the NIA arrested Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Waze in connection with the Ambani case. The agency has alleged that Waze was the perpetrator of the offence. The Opposition, led by former Maharashtra chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, had demanded that Singh and Deshmukh both be transferred.
