Police transfers: Some as expected, some surprising

The state government on Thursday announced a number of transfers and promotions, including one that is being viewed as punitive in the senior Indian Police Service (IPS) circles of the state police.

The state government on Thursday announced a number of transfers and promotions, including one that is being viewed as punitive in the senior Indian Police Service (IPS) circles of the state police.

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Additional Director General K P Raghuvanshi, who was heading the state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), has been shunted to the post of Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order).

Raghuvanshi, a 1980 batch Maharashtra cadre IPS officer, had upset the Union Home department when he leaked sensitive information about two terror suspects the ATS had nabbed last week, to journalists. His transfer was expected after the
Centre had conveyed its displeasure to the state, which had said it would act against the officer.

Raghuvanshi’s successor and Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Rakesh Maria, has been promoted to the rank of additional director general of police. Maria has held several important postings in Mumbai including Commissioner of Police, Railways (Government Railway Police).

A surprise was Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Himanshu Roy's new posting.

Roy will replace Maria as crime branch chief. A state cadre IPS officer of the 1988 batch, Roy was commissioner of police, Nashik city, before he returned to Mumbai as additional commissioner of police (south region).

Roy has been replaced by batch mate, Rajneesh Seth, who is the deputy inspector general, prisons. Seth, an officer of the rank of Inspector General, was holding charge of the post because it was vacant. A native of Nagpur, Seth is an alumnus of St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi. He comes from a family of policemen and bureaucrats. His father was the commissioner of police of Nagpur. Seth, a no-nonsense, non-controversial officer, has served in Mumbai for several years.

He was posted as additional commissioner of police (central region) when Pravin Mahajan shot his brother and Bharatiya Janata Party leader, Pramod Mahajan.