North-west8217;s chief trouble: No ACP yet

MUMBAI, NOV 8: The mafia's favourite hunting ground in the city has been without a regional chief of police since the last four months even ...

MUMBAI, NOV 8: The mafia8217;s favourite hunting ground in the city has been without a regional chief of police since the last four months even as the bloodfest in north-west Mumbai continues unabated. Ever since the transfer of Additional Commissioner of Police Satyapal Singh in July this year, the government hasn8217;t stopped playing catch with this sensitive post. Even the unprecedented spurt in crime in the region, brought home most tellingly by last week8217;s shootout at Bandra station, has not stirred the government into any action.

Reports in a section of the press said high-profile cop Rakesh Maria would be sent to the north-west as additional commissioner, but he8217;s likely to be made additional commissioner of police, crime. Which means that the increasingly crime-prone north-west, stretching from Bandra to Dahisar, will remain without a regional head of police for at least some time to come.

Following Satyapal Singh8217;s transfer, Additional Commissioner of Police Traffic S P S Yadav, was given additionalcharge for a couple of months after which the responsibility was handed to Additional Commissioner of Police North-East region, Y C Pawar.

The North-West region has registered an unprecedented spurt in crime this year with some of the most sensational shootouts and slayings taking place in the suburbs under its jurisdiction.

With the combination of nouveau riche and old money and real estate prices being the highest in this segment of the city, gangsters have always scented a rich bounty in the North-West region. The murders of audio-cassette producer Gulshan Kumar, film producer Mukesh Duggal, builder Sohail Rizvi, In CableNet director Ram Punjabi, Bharatiya Janata Party activist Omprakash Mishra, bomb blasts accused Mohammed Jindran and gangster Javed Shaikh, have made the western suburbs the most volatile in the city.

The region also has registered the highest toll in shootouts and murders as well as extortion complaints, with the number of shootouts rising steeply in the recent past. However,Wednesday8217;s shootout at Bandra railway station has presented crime as a phenomenon that looms larger than life. The state government had at one time hinted that Deputy Inspector General DIG of the Economic Offences Investigation of the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI would take charge of the North-West region.

However, Patnaik is yet to complete his tenure in the CBI, which means he has another three months to go. His crackdown on bars in the region during his tenure as deputy commissioner of police Zone-VII has not been forgotten.

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The other contender to the post had been Maria, who will now most likely be additional commissioner, crime. An officer of the 1981 batch of IPS cadre, Maria had a successful stint in the crime branch during 1993 and 1996 as deputy commissioner of police, detection. As he8217;s known for his wide network of informants, Maria8217;s induction as additional commissioner is expected to help an information-starved crime branch.