Has former Mumbai's top cop Param Bir Singh fled from India using forged passport?

Former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh may have fled India either before the Lookout Circular (LOC) was issued against him by the state police or using a forged passport, news agency ANI reported on Tuesday, citing investigating agencies. Notably, the LOC was issued against Singh in July, two months after the former state police chief went on leave.A senior official told ANI that there is zero probability for any individual to cross the immigration at any airport of India if an LOC has been issued against him/her. Elaborating the process further, the official pointed out that when a person against whom LOC has been issued puts their passport in the system to cross the immigration, it gets red-flagged and they are handed over to the concerned authorities. “The Maharashtra government issued an LOC against Singh just after several FIRs were registered against him,” the official was quoted as saying by ANI.

The official stated that forged passport is the only way Singh could have fled the country, if he did, after he obtained the same using someone else’s ID and his photo. “Many a times people with forged passports get detained but some also manage to pass through because the verification is computer-based with less manual interference,” the official said. This latest development comes after Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil said last week that the state government of the investigative agencies are unaware of the former police chief’s whereabouts. “I've heard something like that but as a government officer, he can't go abroad without government clearance,” Patil said on speculation of Singh escaping to Russia. Singh is wanted in a probe into a corruption claim he levelled against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, saying that the latter was involved in an extortion racket wherein he asked police officials to collect money from bars and restaurant owners. Singh also named dismissed former Mumbai cop Sachin Vaze in this case. He last attended office on May 4 after which he went on leave from the next day, citing health issues. Singh had also requested for an extension of his leave after May, even claiming he underwent a surgery. In mid-August, he requested the Maharashtra government for another extension of his leave on health grounds, and he has been untraceable since then.