Special Cell chief moved out

Karnal Singh, the Special Cell chief who was investigating the September 13 serial blasts in Delhi, was transferred out of the elite anti-terror wing on Monday.

Joint Commissioner of Police Singh, a 1984-batch IPS officer, will now look after the Capital8217;s Northern Range. Besides being the Special Cell chief, Singh had been handling the Northern Range since the serial blasts.

P N Aggarwal is slated to take charge of the Special Cell.

An MTech in Computer Science from IIT-Kanpur, Singh is also a Law graduate from Goa University. He has been handling the Special Cell since 2003 and has been instrumental in solving at least two blast cases since taking charge, including the September 13 serial blasts.

The Special Cell under Singh had cracked the 2005 Sarojini Nagar blasts within a week. Singh was also instrumental in giving the go-ahead to the encounter at Batla House in Jamia Nagar on September 19, six days after the blasts. The encounter left Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma and two suspects dead; one suspect was arrested.

Singh was also instrumental in initiating two cyber cells in the Special Cell. The cyber cells store computerised data of crime offences and criminals and their personal information, including modus operandi. Singh had also set up a surveillance system, which is believed to surpass the system in place for the Intelligence Bureau.

The Special Cell was famous for its encounters till Singh took over; thereafter it started specialising in arresting terrorists and dreaded criminals alive. According to officers close to Singh, Singh paid special attention in training and motivating decorated officers like the slain Mohan Chand Sharma, Sanjeev Yadav and Rajbir Singh for this purpose.

In January this year, the Cell arrested dreaded Eastern Uttar Pradesh mafia don Brajesh Singh, wanted in several cases of murder and kidnapping in UP, Bihar and Jharkhand.

Sher Singh Rana, prime accused in the Phoolan Devi murder case, was also arrested by the Special Cell. He was nabbed at Kolkata8217;s Esplanade area last April.

The replacements
P N Aggarwal is slated to take charge of Special Cell. He is presently Joint Commissioner of Training of Delhi Police.
S Nityanandam, presently in charge of Recruitment, will replace Aggarwal as the new Joint Commissioner for the Training wing.
Virender Singh, Additional Commissioner General Administration, has been transferred to Recruitment; he will also head the Delhi Armed Police.
Vivek Gogia, who was transferred to Delhi from Chandigarh, has been appointed as Additional Commissioner General Administration.