Govt used Param Bir Singh to target me, says Deshmukh

Nagpur: After NCP and Congress, it is now the turn of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh to attack the BJP-Shiv Sena government over revoking suspension of former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.
Breaking his silence on Wednesday, the senior NCP leader said the government had used the former top cop to frame charges against him. He however refused to reveal which government he was indicating to – Centre or state.
Sources close to him in NCP disclosed to TOI that Deshmukh was pointing to the then Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, as Singh was having Mumbai’s charge during its tenure.
Speaking to the media in the morning, Deshmukh, who is out on bail from the Bombay high court, said the current government rewarded Singh by dropping all charges against him. He also said that he would raise the issue during NCP’s core committee meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday.
“The other party members raised my issue strongly in front of supremo Sharad Pawar demanding justice. He will decide the future course of action. Many other issues like Karnataka election results and NCP’s strategy for the future polls were also discussed during the meeting. I will further clarify my stand over Singh’s issue after a few days,” he told TOI, while refusing to comment further.
Deshmukh’s indication towards the Thackeray government had once again brought out fissures in the MVA, as per the NCP sources. Though all three claim to fight the BJP together in forthcoming civic and local body elections, it was highly unlikely that they would reach consensus due to internal bickering.
After Singh was shunted out from the Mumbai CP’s post, he dashed a letter to then CM Thackeray alleging that Deshmukh had asked suspended police officer Sachin Vaze to extort ₹100 crore every month from Mumbai’s bar owners. Deshmukh was kept at Arthur Road jail for over a year before he secured bail.