Boss gone, discredited cops get reason to hope

Kaushik is the first officer to become Ahmedabad city police chief without doing stints in Surat, Vadodara or Rajkot as police commissioner, which has usually been the practice. The 53-year-old officer has served mostly in non-executive posts and has spent time in the office of the Director General of Police. Kaushik’s last assignment, as Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of CID (Crime), was to supervise the investigation in the Godhra case.

As a glum Pande left the Commissioner’s office accompanied by an even more sullen-looking Director General of Police K Chaktravarthi, junior officers and the corridors of the commissionerate watched a change of guard which they can’t quite fathom yet.

But Pande’s critics were pleased. ‘‘It was expected. This drama has gone on for too long, we have to put a stop to this violence at any cost now. In that, this is a good change although it is late,’’ an officer said. Many felt the change of guard accompanied by effective policing may salvage some of the tarnished image of the Gujarat police force.

While Pande’s head was expected to roll, the transfer of Additional Commissioner Keshav Kumar who took charge just last month raised some eyebrows. Equally peeved was joint commissioner M K Tandon. When asked what he thought about the transfers, Tandon retorted: ‘‘You ask the government and the DGP. They have done this in their wisdom. May be they have their own priorities. You ask them.’’ Pande refused to speak.

SIngled out for praise among the new appointees by many are Satish Varma and Satish Sharma. Sharma, an IPS officer of 1986 batch, who was DIG (Surat Range) has been made Additional Police Commissioner Sector -I while Varma, an IPS officer of 1986 batch, who was DIG (Rajkot Range) will be Joint Commissioner, Sector-II.

‘‘We also have a lot of faith in K R Kaushik. He is capable of taking a stand even under pressure. As ADGP (CID) Crime he took a strong stand that there was no conspiracy in the Godhra incident against the government wishes,’’ another officer said. Interestingly, the mood in the lower-level officials—at deputy superintendent and police station level—the message has gone clear and well.

‘‘The mood among inspectors and staff in the field is upbeat. They are also sick and tired of the violence and expect clear instructions and a free hand from the new team,’’ a deputy commissioner remarked.

The mood among young IPS officers, who have been forced to watch helplessly as violence continued in the city, is upbeat. ‘‘You just watch how the situation will be taken care of now. There will definitely be a marked improvement in the law and order,’’ some of them said.

Interestingly, none of the officers feel Pande, Tandon or Keshav Kumar have been made scapegoats by the government. ‘‘They have been given a long rope for a long time to tackle the situation. For some reason they have not been able to discharge their duties as they should have,’’ officers in Gandhinagar said.

‘‘This is not to undermine the competence of people like Pande and Tandon. This is the same P C Pande who tackled riots in Surat and handled the situation quite well when plague broke out. He is otherwise a competent and professional but due to some circumstances he could not handle the situation properly,’’ a senior officer said.

Meanwhile, A I Saiyeed, joint director, State Police Academy, has been appointed OSD to K P S Gill, Security Advisor to the Chief Minister.