Mumbai: Police transfers delayed for months to be held this week

A senior official said, “Generally it is not advisable to have new officers just before Ganeshotsav festival as law and order is a priority. It takes time for officers to understand the dynamics in different districts and so, the transfers were delayed to after the festival.”

These will be the first transfers of IPS officers ever since the new government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took charge. With the change of guard in the government, it is expected that some officers who had been sidelined by the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for the perception that they were close to Fadnavis may no longer be passed up.

IPS officer Rashmi Shukla, who was chargesheeted by the police under the previous government for alleged illegal phone tapping, may also return to the state. Currently, she is on central deputation and posted with the CRPF. Sources said that among the high-profile posts that could see changes are Joint Commissioner (law & order) Mumbai and Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner.

Apart from IPS officers, lower ranked officers will also be transferred. After the Antilia terror threat case in which API Sachin Waze was arrested and dismissed, several officers posted with the Crime Branch for several years had been shunted out. Currently, the Mumbai Police is likely to transfer some old Crime Branch hands who do not have any case or enquiry against them back to the elite detection unit.

There was widespread unhappiness over the delay in transfers, especially among the lower rung of police personnel as they generally tend to get their children admitted to the local school in their new posting.

Since the general transfer takes place before June, it gives them enough time to get admissions for their children in the local school. “Now the academic year is already underway so we cannot remove our children mid-way. So, arrangement will have to be made if the new posting is at a distance from the current one,” said an officer from Mumbai Police.