MUMBAI: The SIT probing the extortion case against former police commissioner Param Bir Singh will initially focus on the complaint of threat calls received by co-accused Sanjay Punamia and the recorded conversations between him and the complainant Shyam Sundar Agarwal.
The SIT held its first meeting on Tuesday. One team has been asked to collect and send voice samples of Punamia to forensic experts to match with the five-hour recorded telephonic conversation. The conversation was recorded by Agarwal during a meeting with Punamia.
Punamia is heard saying that the MVA government will fall following Singh’s allegations against former home minister Anil Deshmukh for demanding Rs 100 crore from beer bar owners. Punamia also boasts about his contacts, and the likelihood of the CBI taking over the case. Besides, Punamia said that he had taken the responsibility of ensuring the fall of a big state minister. He also speaks about the possibility of Singh getting a posting in Delhi.
An officer said: “The conversation happened soon after Singh made the allegations against Deshmukh. At that point CBI was not in the picture. The conversation indicates that Punamia knew what was in the offing. He also spoke about the fall of a politician. We find something amiss.”
The police also wanted to carry out a detailed probe into Punamia’s complaint with the police in February alleging that he received four to five calls in 2016 from elusive gangster Chhota Shakeel asking him to settle the matter with Agarwal. Punamiya claimed he received a missed call from a Pakistani mobile number in December. Within five days of registration of the FIR, the case was transferred from the Juhu police station to the crime branch and stringent sections of Mcoca were invoked. Agarwal and Chhota Shakeel were shown as absconding accused. Agarwal alleged that based on this case, he was forced to file consent terms with Punamia in the property dispute.
