According to sources in Mumbai police, in the absence of Addl CP rank officers at the helm of things, the department is losing its grip on the city.
The post of additional commissioner of police (Addl CP) Special Branch (SB) has been lying vacant for the last five months with Maharashtra government not finding a suitable candidate to fill it up. Special Branch is considered to be the eyes and ears of Mumbai police playing a pivotal role of intelligence gathering in the city.
According to sources in Mumbai police, in the absence of Addl CP rank officers at the helm of things, the department is losing its grip on the city. Since the time Director General of Police (DGP) rank officer Chaggan Wakde holding the post of Addl CP (SB) was transferred out, it vacancy has not been filled.
Mumbai police faced a major embarrassment in October last year when head of Observer Researcher Foundation (ORF) Sudheeran Kulkarni's face was blackened by Shiv Sainiks who were protesting the book release of former Pakistan foreign minister Kurshid Mahmud Kasuri. In another instance in the same month, the police found itself on the back foot when a bunch of Shiv Sainiks stormed into Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) office to protest against the arrival of Pakistan Cricket Board officials in Mumbai to discuss a bilateral series between the two countries. A similar intelligence failure of Mumbai police came to the fore when the police failed to sense trouble for the concert of Pakistan singer Ghulam Ali.
Currently, Addl CP (south) Pratap Dighavkar is holding additional charge of the SB but he has an important region with him and it clearly extra workload on him. Recently, taking into the consideration the importance of the branch, the social media lab of Mumbai police, which keeps a tab on anti-social elements in the cyber world, was attached with the SB. "Recently, the Maharashtra government did a major reshuffle among senior police officers; however, they could not post one office to such an important post," said a senior police officer.
When contacted, additional chief secretary (home) KP Bakshi said: "The post will be filled soon. We are looking for a suitable candidate for it."
Lapses leading to embarrassment
"In the last five months there has been a number of instances where the Mumbai police have failed to get the pulse of the city, which led to a major embarrassment and that was due to the failure of the Special Branch," said a police officer. "The position of the Addl CP (SB) is also important because the chief minister of the state has to be briefed on a daily basis on the happening in the city and the intelligence gathered on various issues."
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