IPS officer Sanjay Pandey appoints as Mumbai Police Commissioner

|HT|

Amid the tussle between three ruling parties in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the cases against the leaders from both sides, and days after the Bombay High Court rap for his appointment as acting Director General of Police, IPS officer Sanjay Pandey (59), has been appointed as Mumbai Police Commissioner. Outgoing Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale has been appointed the managing director of the Maharashtra State Security Corporation.

The Maharashtra home department issued an order on Monday appointing Pandey, a 1986-batch IPS officer, as Commissioner of Police, for Mumbai city. Pandey will be retiring in June this year.

Pandey was removed from the post of acting DGP on February 18 after the Bombay High Court pulled up the state government for his appointment in April last year. The HC had questioned if the state government was ‘favouring’ him by continuing him in the post despite the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) refusing to empanel him for the post.

The appointment of Pandey as new CP, Mumbai, when he has just four months to retire, is believed to be significant. “Pandey is considered an upright officer and had played a key role in the probe against former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh and former state intelligence department chief Rashmi Shukla. While ruling MVA leaders are facing cases by the central agencies, Maharashtra and Mumbai police have registered cases against Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including Union minister Narayan Rane, his son MLA Nitesh Rane and Kirit Somaiya. “The appointment of Pandey as the new police chief is seen as a strategic move by the ruling parties,” a senior NCP leader said.

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