Under flak for 'mishandling' of the bomb scare outside Mukesh Ambani's residence, Maharashtra Government on Wednesday transferred Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh from the post. Senior IPS officer Hemant Nagrale, holding additional charge of Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP), will be the new Mumbai Police Commissioner and replace Singh, who has been posted to the state Home Guard, state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said.

Deshmukh, who met Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray earlier in the day, made the announcement on Twitter amid speculation in media over Singh’s handling of the Sachin Vaze episode.

Vaze is at the focus of a probe by the National Investigating Agency in a case related to the recovery of an SUV with explosives near Ambani's house in Mumbai. Vaze, arrested in the case on March 13 for his alleged role in the crime, was attached to the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the city police's crime branch till recently. Vaze was on Sunday remanded to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) custody till March 25.

In the latest development in the case, the NIA has stated that Sachin Vaze used his own government vehicle to accompany the explosives-laden SUV and then himself drove the police vehicle to the 'scene of the crime' on February 25. The NIA has also seized a black Mercedes-Benz car from a parking lot near CSMT station, which, according to NIA, Vaze was using. Rs 5 lakh cash, two number plates, a note counting machine and some clothes were recovered also from it.

The agency also said Vaze allegedly seized CCTV footage at his own apartment complex and removed it. "In the CCTV footage, Sachin Vaze could be seen with his head covered with a large handkerchief so that no one could identify him. He was wearing an oversized kurta-pyjama, and not PPE coverall, in an attempt to mask his body language and face," the NIA said.

Param Bir Singh, the 1988-batch IPS officer had taken over as Mumbai Police Commissioner from IPS officer Sanjay Barve on February 29, 2020. Singh also made headlines recently when he spearheaded the alleged TRP rating scam, in which at least five news and entertainment channels were found allegedly involved in rigging the TRPs to attract more advertisements.

Image Source: PTI