‘Controversial’ cops feature in list of 39 IPS officers shunted out

The home department issued the first list of transfers of 39 senior IPS officers from the ranks of the deputy commissioner to the special inspector general of police on Tuesday.

Mumbai: The list of 39 senior IPS officers transferred by the home department on Wednesday features at least two officers who had invited the wrath of their political bosses through omission or commission of their actions in the recent past. Nashik Police commissioner Deepak Pandey’s shunting out is seen as the fallout of the letter he sent to DGP criticising the revenue department and a recent order on loudspeaker, while superintendent of police for Beed district Raja Ramasami has been transferred after a recent uproar over the deterioration of the law-and-order situation in the district.

The home department had recently transferred DCP (zone 2) Yogesh Kumar and the senior police inspector of Gamdevi police station RJ Rajbhar (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

The home department issued the list of transfers of 39 senior IPS officers from the ranks of the deputy commissioner to the special inspector general of police on Tuesday. The transfer of a couple of the senior IPS officers caught eyeballs in the backdrop of the current political developments.

Pandey had invited the wrath of political leadership after he wrote a letter, earlier this month, to the DGP demanding that the power of revenue officials and executive magistrates be given to the police. He had said that the revenue officials were hand-in-glove with the land mafia and they are nothing less than ‘RDX’ and ‘detonators.’ The issue was raised in the state cabinet meeting and the officer was served a show-cause notice after revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat raised strong objections to the remarks.

More recently on April 17, Pandey issued an order making the permission mandatory for use of loudspeakers at religious places. The order had also prohibited the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) from holding any protest by chanting Hanuman Chalisa outside mosques, as announced by party chief Raj Thackeray.

“There was no need for any such separate order when the government was formulating uniform guidelines on the issue. Secondly, the order failed to use appropriate government language and had given undue importance to MNS by mentioning its and Thackeray’s names multiple times. It created an unnecessary controversy. His action against union minister Narayan Rane in foul language against the chief minister last year was however appreciated by ruling parties. Pandey had also requested for a side posting as he has some plans of work in healthcare infrastructure back home in Bihar,” said an official from the home department. Pandey has been transferred as special IG, prevention of atrocities against women. The 1999-batch IPS officer was appointed as Nashik CP on September 4, 2020.

The appointment of Pravinkumar Padwal as joint police commissioner of the economic offences wing of the Mumbai police is considered important in the wake of the political cases against BJP leaders registered with the wing. “The home department expects the cases registered against a few BJP leaders with EOW to be expedited,” a senior NCP leader said.

Beed SP Ramasami has been transferred as deputy commissioner of police in Pune. Home minister Dilip Walse-Patil had announced in the state assembly last month to send him on forced leave after an uproar over the deteriorated law and order situation in the district. The home minister had also announced conducting a probe into the charges levelled by the elected representatives during a discussion in the budget session.

“The Beed SP was made scapegoat between the political tussle among NCP leaders in the district and others from the ruling parties. The issue was raised by the NCP MLAs in the house despite the home department being under the minister from their party. BJP fanned the tussle compelling the home minister to send the IPS officer on leave. The police had handled the cases, mentioned in the house, with due diligence without giving in to the political pressure. Even CM had expressed his unhappiness over the way it was raised in the house. The officer believably wanted the transfer,” said the leader quoted above.

The home department had recently transferred DCP (zone 2) Yogesh Kumar and the senior police inspector of Gamdevi police station RJ Rajbhar was after the protest outside NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s residence on April 7. Striking MSRTC employees had stormed into the compound of Pawar’s South Mumbai residence.