Sanjay Barve new Mumbai police chief, Subodh Kumar Jaiswal appointed DGP
During his more than three-decade-long career, Barve has served as additional superintendent of police in Nashik Rural and Nagpur. He was also superintendent of police in Gaddchiroli and Wardha.
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Sanjay Barve takes charge as the Commissioner of Police on Thursday. (Express photo: Prashant Nadkar)
IPS OFFICER Sanjay Barve was appointed as the new commissioner of Mumbai Police on Thursday. The 1987-batch officer took over the charge from incumbent Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, who was appointed the state director general of police (DGP).
Before taking over the charge, Barve took the oath, following which he arrived at the Mumbai Police headquarters around 2.30 pm. In his first interaction with the media as commissioner, he said, “Internal security will be taken care of. Our job is to keep our citizens safe and control the crime in both cyber and economic offences.”
“We are a professional force with a history of over a hundred years, so we just want citizens to be alert and we will do the rest,” he said, adding that police presence on the streets would be increased. “We have managed to control law and order in the city till now and we will do the same in future.”
On the current situation along India’s border with Pakistan, Barve said that police would strengthen security across Mumbai. Asked about efforts of the city police and the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad to counter-terrorism, he said: “We are one colour. Maharashtra Police, Mumbai Police and ATS will work together. Our aim is common that the state should be secured and we will work towards it.”
During his more than three-decade-long career, Barve has served as additional superintendent of police in Nashik Rural and Nagpur. He was also superintendent of police in Gaddchiroli and Wardha, before being posted to Mumbai, where he served as deputy commissioner of police in three zones and the Economic Offences Wing. In 2003, he headed a special investigation team formed to probe the multi-crore Abdul Karim Telgi fake stamp scam. In 2004, he was posted commissioner of police, Solapur, and in 2008, made the joint commissioner of police (Traffic) in Mumbai.
In May 2011, Barve and his wife Sharmila were questioned by the CBI in connection with the controversial Adarsh Co-Operative Housing Society. The CBI, which was then probing the finances and discrepancies in the accounts of all 104 members of the society, had questioned the couple over assisting Barve’s father raise funds to buy a flat in the scam-ridden society in Cuffe Parade.
Barve is known as a soft-spoken yet strict police officer, boasting a good record. In 2016, he held the post of additional director general (ADG) of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) at a time when the department was investigating cases against former home minister Chhagan Bhujbal.
He was later posted as the managing director of Maharashtra State Security Corporation while he held the charge of commissioner, State Intelligence Department. Most recently, he was the director general of ACB, a position vacant since the appointment of Satish Mathur as the state police chief in 2016. Parambir Singh, currently ADG (Law and Order), who is awaiting his promotion to DG rank, is now the seniormost officer eligible for the post.
Both Singh and Barve were considered frontrunners for the post of Mumbai Police commissioner in 2018, before Jaiswal’s eventual appointment.
Meanwhile, on Thursday afternoon, retiring DGP Datta Padsalgikar brought down the curtains to a 37-year-long career in a typically quiet fashion, refusing a retirement parade traditionally held at the Mumbai Police’s ground in Naigaon, Parel. Senior officers said Padsalgikar felt the parade, which features the police band and officers pulling a chariot in which he is seated, inappropriate at a time when the country is on high alert.
Padsalgikar departed the police’s Colaba office to a farewell tune by the band after handing over the ceremonial key to his chambers to Jaiswal. Padsaligikar was to retire in November 2018 before being granted a three-month extension. The state government’s proposal for a further six-month extension was shot down earlier this month by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Padsalgikar said, “Both commissioner of Mumbai Police and Maharashtra DGP have been very challenging tenures. I salute the police force of Maharashtra.”
In his first address as DGP, Subodh Kumar Jaiswal said that the police were adequately prepared to handle the Lok Sabha elections. “We are cognisant of our role and will follow Election Commission guidelines to carry out free and fair elections.” He added that the police would respond “in an extremely measured manner” to the current situation prevailing in the country.
Jaiswal said existing police health and welfare schemes would continue. “The priority is to keep the force fighting fit. We should not lose lives to diseases that can be cured,” he added.
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