Mumbai news: In major police reshuffle, 15 DCP-rank officers transferred

As many as 15 Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP)-rank officers were transferred within the Mumbai police department on Friday, on orders issued by Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar.

DCP Vijaykant Sagar was posted as DCP Zone 7 in the eastern suburbs, Vivek Pansare was posted as DCP Enforcement in the Crime Branch and Pradeep Sawant as DCP Traffic (East).

Navnath Dhavale was transferred as DCP Zone 6, Ragsudha R as DCP Zone 4, Dattatray Kamble was posted as DCP Zone 3, Nitin Pawar posted as DCP Head Quarters -2, Mangesh Shinde as DCP Special Task Force (EOW), Purushottam Karad as DCP Special Branch, Mahesh Chimte as DCP Protection and Krishnakant Upadhyay as DCP Head Quarters - 1, the official said.

Sudhakar Pathare was posted as DCP Port Zone, Sachin Gunjal as DCP Zone -10, Deepali Dhate as DCP Security and Nimit Goyal was posted as DCP Local Arms at Kalina.

DCP Goyal, who was in Nagpur, has resigned from service, the official said adding the final decision on his resignation will be taken by the state government.

116 police personnel transferred

This comes after reports of significant number of transfers of police officers out of the Mumbai police force hit media reports earlier this month. A Times of India report had suggested that 116 police personnel, including an additional commissioner of police, three DCPs, two ACPs, and 111 police inspectors, were being transferred by the state government.

It came after the Election Commission of India (ECI) reprimanded Maharashtra government for not transferring police officers who had served more than three years in Mumbai before announcement of the state election dates.

Earlier, according to the TOI report, the state government had tried to get exemptions for police officers, mainly inspectors, citing personal issues. However, the ECI rejected these requests.

The state had even managed to exempt many of these officials from transfer during the Lok Sabha elections earlier this, and they were hopeful for similar relief from the ECI this time as well, but to no avail.

In August this year, the Maharashtra government had transferred 16 Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police-rank officers, including senior cop Datta Nalawade, in the state.