Fadnavis unhappy, may shuffle state police brass

MUMBAI: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis may go in for a major shuffle of the top deck of the state police, following the force’s inability to crack the high-profile murders of activists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare.
A senior BJP cabinet minister said Fadnavis wants to shift most police commissioners and replace them with high-profile faces. In Mumbai, while no decision has been taken on police chief Rakesh Maria, most joint, additional and deputy commissioners will be replaced soon, he added.
A shuffle of the police brass, in any way, has been necessitated following the retirement of director general and state security corporation managing director K P Raghuwanshi on Friday. Thane police commissioner Vijay Kamble, an IPS officer of the 1980 batch, has been promoted and posted in place of Raghuwanshi.
Earlier, it was a post of additional director general rank, however, following the unceremonious exit of the then Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik, the post was upgraded to DG rank and he was posted there on promotion.
According to the minister, the CM may clear appointment of DGP Sanjeev Dayal on deputation with the Centre and upgrade the post inspector general of prisons to that of director general rank. “Fadnavis had a prolonged meeting with Union home minister Rajnath Singh, who had sought the services of the DGP for the Centre. Dayal is due for retirement in September. Under such circumstances, there is uncertainty over his deputation,” the cabinet member said.
He added that in the event Dayal takes central deputation, then anti-corruption bureau chief Pravin Dixit will succeed him, while Pune police commissioner Satish Mathur may be elevated as director general (prisons) and housing development corporation managing director Arup Patnaik will head the ACB.
He said Fadnavis is unhappy with the performance of the law enforcement agencies. “In fact, in one of the meetings with senior IPS officials, Fadnavis made it clear that it was a embarrassing situation for him as last year, he had demanded resignation of the then CM following Dabholkar’s murder,” the cabinet member said.
A senior IPS officer said large-scale changes were on cards in view of the promotions. The 2001 batch comprising C S Babu, who is on central deputation, DCP Pratap Dighavkar and Pune SP Manoj Lohia and Ravindra Sengaonkar are due for promotion as DIG, while the 1997 batch, which includes Vishwas Nagare Patil, Milind Bharambe and Rajvardhan are due for promotion as IG of police. Joint commissioners B K Upadhyaya (traffic) and Vivek Phansalkar (administration) are due for promotion as additional DG of police, and IG (establishment) Atul Kulkarni is set to replace joint commissioner (crime) Sadanand Date, who has taken up central deputation. Upadhyaya may replace Nagpur police commissioner K K Pathak, who will be shifted to Mumbai.