161 police inspectors transferred out of city

161 police inspectors were transferred from Mumbai as part of election directives, raising concerns over law and order during assembly elections.

MUMBAI: A total of 161 police inspectors were transferred out of the city on Wednesday. The complete transfer list has names of 221 police inspectors from Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Mira-Bhayander-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police commissionerates.

161 police inspectors transferred out of city

Seventy police inspectors were brought to the city from Akola, Sangli and Nashik, and from the Police Training Centre at Khandala.

Names of several senior inspectors, who were promoted as assistant commissioner only six months back, are also on the list, and so are the names of more than 20 senior inspectors posted at various prominent police stations of the city, like Kandivali, Malwani, Kurla, Cuffe Parade, LT Marg and Vanrai.

Some senior officers have raised concern about the move’s timing and its impact on the law and order, with the assembly elections duties going on.

On October 4, 111 police officers from various police stations across the city had been transferred out, as per directives from the Election Commission. Some of the officers had joined duty while some gave reasons for not joining, and few were either not released or attached to police control rooms, said sources from the department.

As per rules, any police officer, who has served in an executive post in three of the past four years in a district, has to be transferred before elections, to ensure that such officers do not influence the outcome of the elections directly or indirectly.

Based on an Election commission order last week, the director general of police (DGP) asked commissioners of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Mira Bhayander-Vasai Virar (MBVV) to give a list of such police officers. More than 200 officers come under this criterion, said the sources.