E-Paper
Ritesh Kumar new Pune police chief as Amitabh Gupta transferred
Kumar, the 1992-batch IPS officer, will be facing challenges related to traffic management and street crime as Pune police commissioner
The state home department late on Tuesday evening transferred Pune police commissioner Amitabh Gupta as additional director general of police (law and order) in Mumbai. Gupta has been replaced by Ritesh Kumar, additional director general at State CID, Pune.
Pimpri-Chinchwad police commissioner Ankush Shinde has been transferred as Nasik police commissioner. He has been replaced by additional director general Vinay Kumar Choubey.
Kumar, the 1992-batch IPS officer, will be facing challenges related to traffic management and street crime as Pune police commissioner.
Civil society members are of the opinion that the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) cases must continue under his tenure owing to the rise of organised crime in the city. Rising cyber crime cases, crimes against women and property offences also remain some of the challenges before the new police chief.
The transfer of Pune and Pimpri-Police commisssioners is part of a major IPS reshuffle in state which included Sadanand Date as new ATS chief, Lakhmi Gautam new joint commisssioner of police (crime) in Mumbai, and Milind Bharambe to be head of Navi Mumbai police
A 1992-batch IPS officer, Gupta (51) is an IIT graduate from Uttar Pradesh. He was earlier posted as principal secretary (special), home department, Mumbai. Outgoing CP Gupta was instrumental in booking as many as 113 gangs under the stringent MCOCA.
Gupta courted controversy for granting written permission to controversial real estate developers scam accused Wadhawans to travel to Mahabaleshwar during the nationwide coronavirus lockdown period. He had granted written permission to Wadhawans to travel to Mahabaleshwar during the nationwide lockdown period which invited widespread condemnation. Later, the then home minister Anil Deshmukh in the previous MVA government gave him a clean chit in the case.
The major shake-up in senior offices comes as the state prepares for the civic and local self-government polls. Though the state home department has cleared the transfers, it has not promoted IPS officers from additional DG to DG level, although three positions in the rank have been vacant since June.
Meanwhile, Amravati CP Aarti Singh is now the additional commissioner of armed police, Mumbai, while the DIG of Nanded range, Nisar Tamboli, has been transferred as additional CP in Mumbai traffic police. Additional CP Dnyaneshwar Chavan of Mumbai police’s central region has been posted in the crime branch.
