Police shuffle on hold

The state government has yet to decide on the transfers in the police department that need to be implemented once commandant chief of home guard and civil defence PKB Chakravarthy retires on November 30. Director general Chakravarthy’s retirement is likely to lead to a major shuffle in the top rungs of the Maharashtra police.

After Chakravarthy, Mumbai police commissioner AN Roy is the senior-most IPS officer. This means that he could be promoted as director general, but he may have to be transferred from Mumbai. Deputy Chief Minister RR Patil, who is in charge of the home portfolio, said the government was yet to discuss this matter. "There has been a lot of speculation in the media regarding this issue, but we have not yet taken any decision," he said.

As police commissioners fall under the additional director general rank, sources in the police department said the state government was likely to upgrade the post of Mumbai commissioner to that of a director general, in order to accommodate Roy. "The government only has to pass a resolution stating that the post has been temporarily upgraded," a senior police officer said.

Sources in the home department said that Roy may be asked to continue as Mumbai commissioner till next year's municipal elections. Meanwhile, there are others in the running for the post of Mumbai police commissioner. These include chief of state CID Jayant Umranikkar, commissioner of Pune DN Jadhav, additional director general Hasan Gaffoor and Thane commissioner D Sivanandan.