Navi Mumbai police have secured prior permission to invoke the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against BJP activist and self-described RTI activist Tribhuvan Lalbihari Singh and his associates in an alleged builder-extortion case, paving the way for his re-arrest.
The permission was granted by Navi Mumbai Joint Police Commissioner Deepak Sakore after police submitted a proposal detailing Singh’s alleged criminal activities, previous cases and links to an organised crime gang. Singh, 47, lives in Ishwar Nagar in Digha. Police said he was arrested by Rabale police on September 29 for allegedly extorting Rs 1.3 lakh from a builder in Digha and demanding an additional Rs 5,000.
According to the police account reported by Times of India, Singh allegedly obtained information through RTI applications from the City and Industrial Development Corporation, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. He then allegedly threatened to file complaints and have the builder’s alleged illegal constructions in Airoli and Digha demolished.
Senior Inspector Balkrushna Sawant said the MCOCA proposal was submitted through Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) to the joint commissioner on October 12. The proposal included Singh’s criminal background, chargesheets filed in court and allegations that he had used threats and violence for personal financial gains. Police said the permission followed a review of the evidence submitted with the proposal.
Singh was earlier remanded to six days in police custody and later released on bail in the current case. Police said that, following the permission to invoke MCOCA, he would be arrested again. Another accused, identified as Aniket Tribhuvan Singh, 23, who is Singh’s son, remains absconding, according to the report.
Police also cited an earlier case involving a builder from Gothivli in the Ghansoli node. They alleged that Singh demanded Rs 10 lakh from the builder, accepted Rs 1 lakh in instalments through a friend’s bank account and continued to demand the remaining amount. In that case, Singh had complained to Cidco in December 2024, alleging illegal construction by the builder and posting photographs of the site on social media. Police said he later demanded money to withdraw the complaint and had threatened to undertake a hunger strike if the construction was not demolished.
The allegations place civic complaints, construction enforcement and extortion in the same chain of events. The police account alleges that complaints to planning and development agencies were used as leverage in private financial demands. The report does not establish whether the construction allegations made in those complaints were valid or whether any demolition action was ordered by the relevant agencies.
Police said Singh was served an externment notice in 2025 for one year. He later sought a reduction of the period to six months and received approval from a zonal deputy commissioner of police. After returning from the externment period, police alleged that he again became involved in criminal activities.
From 2023 to 2026, eight criminal cases were registered against Singh, according to police. These include three cases at Rabale MIDC police station and one each at Rabale, Kalwa and Naupada police stations. Police also referred to a 2018 case in which Singh was arrested by the Thane Anti-Extortion Cell after an extortion first information report was registered at Kalwa police station.
In that case, police alleged that Singh attempted to extort Rs 20 lakh from a local doctor by threatening to have the doctor’s hospital shut down. Singh had filed multiple complaints with civic agencies alleging that the hospital staff were not qualified. The latest police action will now proceed under the MCOCA process against Singh and his associates.
