‘Param Bir Singh paid Rs 5 lakh to cook up cyber evidence’

The 10000page charge sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency NIA in the Ambani bomb scare case reveals how former police chief Param Bir Singh misled the probe by faking the involvement of terror group JaishUlHind A cyber expertrsquos statement says Singh paid him Rs 5 lakh to doctor the report to show that the terror outfit used a Telegram channel similar to the one it used for a bomb blast near Israel Embassy in Delhi in JanuarySince the beginning the NIA was suspicious of the involvement of former commissioner of police CP Singh in the alleged conspiracy about JaishUlHind However nothing has been mentioned in the charge sheet as far as Singhrsquos role is concernedMansukh Hiran the deceased businessmanBut the charge sheet features a statement by a cyber expert who allegedly wrote the doctored report attributing the threat to JaishUlHind saying the outfit on a Telegram channel claimed responsibility for placing an explosivesladen car outside industrialist Mukesh Ambanirsquos residence The cyber expert in his statement recorded before the NIA on August 5 stated that he modified the report on Singhrsquos insistenceThe cyber expert who has been training IPS officers across India and has been helping various intelligence agencies in tracking cyber terrorism stated ldquo I had visited the office of the CP Mumbai on March 9 2021 in connection with a training programme that concluded on 15012021 for the Crime Branch Mumbai and a second training which started for Addl CP Mumbai in the first week of February 2021 Besides a new training was verbally proposed for South Mumbai under the supervision of Addl CP South During the said meeting I mentioned to Sh Param Bir Singh IPS the then CP Mumbai that the Telegram Channel lsquoJaishulHindrsquo on which a post had appeared on 27022021 claiming responsibility or the Antilia terror scare has been resolved by the Special Cell Delhi Police and that the mobile phone number linked with the said Telegram Channel was found to be used from within the premises of Tihar Jail I told CP Sir that as a cyber security expert I too had been following a Telegram Channel with a similar name since the time a blast had occurred outside the Israel embassy in New Delhi on 29012021 and that since I was already into such work I have shared with the Special Cell Delhi Police information gathered by me and thereafter I was asked by the Special Cell to collaborate with the Special Cell Delhi Police After sharing the above information with CP Mumbai I was asked whether I could give such a report in writing I said that the work was confidential and was being done by the Special Cell Delhi Police and hence it would not be proper on my part to give any report in writing in this regard But the CP Sir said that it is a very important matter and that I should be giving the said report and that CP Sir was also going to talk to IG NIA in this regardrdquoldquoAs per the insistence of the CP Mumbai I prepared a report on my laptop sitting in the office of the CP Mumbai The said report was in one paragraph and I showed it to the CP Mumbai After going through the report Param Bir Singh Sir asked me to insert the poster that had appeared on the Telegram Channel lsquoJaishUlHindrsquo claiming responsibility for the Antilia scare He told me that IG NIA is expected shortly and that he would like to show the report to IG NIA Accordingly I modified my report and inserted the poster that had appeared on the Telegram Channel lsquoJaishuHindrsquo and mailed the said report to the official email id of CP Mumbairdquo his statement readFormer Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh File piclsquoHe paid me Rs 5 lakhrsquoThe cyber expertrsquos statement reads further ldquoParam Bir Singh said he wanted to pay me for the services rendered and asked me what amount he should pay me I told him that I was not expecting any payment But Param Bir Singh insisted that I had done an excellent job and that I deserved payment for the services rendered Accordingly he called his personal assistant and directed the personal assistant to pay me Rs 3 lakh As the assistant left the chamber Singh called back the personal assistant and directed the personal assistant to pay me Rs 5 lakh I again told CP Sir that the amount was too much and there was no need for such a payment But CP Sir insisted that I deserved the said payment and I received Rs 5 lakh in cash from the assistant in the presence of Sh Param Bir SinghrdquolsquoI tracked outfit in another casersquoThe expert stated that the report which he had sent to the Delhi Special Cell regarding JaishUlHind was for a different case but had to insert in it a poster of JaishUlHind claiming the responsibility of Antilia bomb scare ldquoIt is now pointed out to me that as per the above said report given by me to the CP Mumbai I had fetched the IP address linked with the Telegram channel lsquoJaishUlHindrsquo since 328 pm on 26022021 whereas the poster claiming responsibility for the Antilia terror scare had appeared on 27 022021 I was asked as to why I was following the Telegram channel lsquoJaishULHindrsquo a day prior to the appearance of a poster claiming responsibility for the Antilia terror scare I would like to clarify that the Telegram Channel that was identified and resolved by me was different from the one on which the poster had appeared The one resolved by me had only 34 members and there was no poster related to the Antilia terror scare on that channel I say that the Telegram Channel lsquoJashUlHind on which the poster appeared was in fact resolved by the Special Cell Delhi Police and not by me However when I shared my input with the Spl Cell Delhi Police it came to light that the IP address pertaining to both channels were found to be linked with the same virtual number 19147 linked to TextNow App which was further resolved by the Special Cell Delhi Police with TextNow and found linked with Airtel number 93819 which was found to be operated from within Tihar JailrdquoA screenshot of text on JaishUlHindrsquos Telegram channel which was shared with the private firm after it went viralSingh leaked reportldquoI am now asked as to how the said report got leaked to the media I say that while handing over the report to CP Mumbai on 09032021 I had conveyed that the information was very confidential and that the Special Cell Delhi Police was still working on the input But I was shocked to see the details appearing in newspapers the next day and was very upset about the samerdquo his statement readldquoFurther it is submitted that the case is being investigated visavis threat post emanated from JaishUlHind evidences are also being collected against the accused persons as well as to ascertain the role of other persons in the entire conspiracyrdquo the NIA charge sheet stated without mentioning the names of the suspect The agency recently sought custody of dismissed police officers Sachin Waze and Sunil Mane stating that it has evidence but the court denied their custody midday is not revealing the name of the cyber expert as he is a crucial witness in the case and the NIArsquos further investigation in connection with the JaishUlHind conspiracy continueslsquoQazi isnrsquot Wazersquos aidersquoMeanwhile the NIA has dropped terror charges against dismissed API Riyazuddin Qazi who was probing the Antilia case at the initial stage It has charged him for destruction of evidence and criminal conspiracy ldquoThe terror charges have been dropped against my client And we will fight whatever charges he is facing now before the court of the law We have full faith in the judiciary He never knew anything about Sachin Waze before the latter joined the CIU People should stop calling him the close aide of Wazerdquo his lawyer Zeeshan Khan said