The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday questioned Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey in a case related to former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. According to sources, Pandey was grilled for nearly six hours over allegations of attempting to influence former commissioner Param Bir Singh to withdraw his complaint against Deshmukh, while the Bombay High Court was hearing the case. A CBI official, on condition anonymity, said, “Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey has been questioned in this case; if need be, he will be questioned again.”

In an affidavit in the Supreme Court in November last year, Singh had alleged that Pandey had asked him to withdraw his complaint against Deshmukh on April 16, 2021. The development had taken place after Deshmukh had transferred Singh to the Home Guard Department in March 2021, following which Singh had written a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, making many allegations against the minister. The biggest of those allegations was that he was using Mumbai Police officers to extort Rs 100 crore from bars and restaurants in Mumbai. Deshmukh was then forced to resign. At the time, Pandey was holding additional charge of DGP of Maharashtra. According to Singh, Pandey had pressurised him to withdraw his charges.