Former police commissioner K K Paul had once sought security cover from the Union ministry for himself and his family members following alleged threats from Singh.

Additional Commissioner (Crime) Satender Garg said, “We have received information that Balbir Singh has been found and it is good to know he is alive. We have sent our men to ascertain facts.”

According to Singh’s son Ajay Malik, Singh was found in a tattered kurta pyjama, with an unkempt beard. “Officers from the post had found my father unconscious near the post. When he came to, he called me and said he had been abandoned near the post by some men. When we reached, me and my brother Sanjay saw our father had injury marks all over his body and his clothes were also torn,” Malik told Newsline.

Singh had disappeared in January, 2007. The Delhi Police claimed he had absconded while the family moved the High Court stating that Singh had been abducted instead. A few months after the disappearance — in July, 2007 — K K Paul wrote to the Union ministry seeking protection from Singh after alleged threats.

Balbir Singh had openly criticised the police chief before the media for suspending fellow colleague, Inspector Devendra Manchanda in 2006. After being suspended, Manchanda had committed suicide in October 12 the same year. His family had moved the High Court seeking the registration of a criminal case against Paul for “harassing” him and “abetting” the suicide.

Singh had also criticised Paul for “victimising junior officers of the force for not following his orders”.