A Melbourne cafe operator accused of stalking a professional chess player has been refused bail after a judge found he remained an unacceptable risk to her safety if released.
Shumsheer Singh Ghumman, 47, faces 35 charges over allegations that he stalked the woman, who is in her 20s, between April 2024 and May 2026. He denies the allegations and will stand trial.
Justice Amanda Fox rejected his bail application in the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday, saying the alleged offending appeared to have been carefully organised and persistent.
The court heard the woman obtained an intervention order against Ghumman in March 2025, but he allegedly continued to follow and intimidate her.
Justice Fox said Ghumman had “infiltrated” the woman’s life and gathered information about her family, friends, addresses and holiday plans.
“On the material I have, the offending is methodical and planned,” she said.
Police alleged that Ghumman emailed officials in Qatar about the woman, leading to her being held in a cell after she arrived at Doha International Airport, the court heard. Lead detective Senior Constable Ashley Hall also alleged that Ghumman contacted the Icelandic Chess Federation, after which the woman was detained again.
The judge noted allegations that Ghumman threatened to use artificial intelligence to monitor the woman and collect her personal information from the dark web. He allegedly told her that Claude, a reference to an AI chatbot, would not tire of pursuing her.
Ghumman is also accused of trying to discourage the woman from pursuing criminal charges and of intimidating her parents and friends.
He was arrested at his cafe in Burnley, in Melbourne’s east, on 1 May. The charges include stalking, intimidation, attempting to pervert the course of justice and possessing a pair of nunchucks.
His barrister, Dermot Dann KC, argued that the case could face significant delays while police awaited responses from the governments of Qatar and Iceland. He also submitted that Ghumman was unlikely to receive a sentence reflecting the time he could spend on remand.
Ghumman’s father offered an $880,000 bail guarantee and had threatened to disinherit his son if he breached his bail, the court heard. Justice Fox accepted that the guarantee was available but said it was not a compelling reason to release him.
“The applicant has displayed a level of planning, obsession and determination which is concerning,” Justice Fox said.
She found Ghumman posed an unacceptable risk of endangering the woman and interfering with witnesses, and that no bail conditions could adequately manage those risks.
Ghumman was remanded in custody and is due to return to Melbourne Magistrates Court for a committal mention hearing in October.
