Suddenly, the daily soap on Sheena Bora murder case came to halt with the news that Ahmed Javed is appointed as the Police Commissioner of Mumbai by the Maharashtra Government replacing Rakesh Maria. This happened without any hint, generally we have seen that appointments of CP hit the headlines in advance and then the cop takes charge. There was a controversy over Maria’s appointment as a commissioner though Ahmed Javed was the contender for the coveted post. No one knows, why Maria was elevated to the top post with so much hullabaloo and moved from it all of a sudden. In February 2014, despite the claims of two senior IPS officers, Vijay Kamble (1979 batch) and Mr. Ahmed Javed (1980 batch) for the coveted post of Mumbai police chief, Mr. Maria, who belongs to the 1981-batch of the Indian Police Service, was appointed as the commissioner during the Congress-NCP regime.

No doubt, Maria is one of the best police officers in India. His efforts have cracked down the Mumbai blasts case in no time. However, Congress government which allowed the underworld big fishes to flee away from India and the pathetic judiciary which dragged its feet to punish the guilty. Maria’s personal involvement in Sheena Bora’s case has raised eye brows as this rarely happens. It also showed that Mumbai police was giving undue importance to this case, which sends signals that Maria by his act wanted extended term from the government which it understood and immediately gave him promotion and transferred him. Moreover, Maria was also in the bad book of the government for his involvement in the Lalit Modi issue, where he met Lalit Modi in London and later handling the Indrani case where his men were revealing confidential information to media which were hampering the investigation. The police investigation more or less started running parallel to the media investigation and often the media started getting an upper hand in the matter. Police was not expected to give a running commentary and their action should be visible where only necessary. In the past, the Raigad police have bungled the entire issue for a price perhaps, and people have been watching the actions of the Mumbai police with deserving anxiety and Maria failed to live up to the expectations. Meanwhile, Maria was also due for promotion even before investigation of this case started and he was trying to speed up the same (By creating his need for extended tenure).

Ahmed Javed, a 1980 batch officer, with whom the 1981 batch Maria now literally swaps roles, is himself no stranger to the Page 3 and film circuit (making his grasp over the Indrani Mukerjea case fairly seamless as far as him being influenced by the same factors that Maria has been, or not) and, hailing from a nawabi aristocratic family himself, a fact he likes little mentioned, has had many a friend across all strata of society. He wears his khadi khakhi uniform stiffly starched and is a workaholic who makes and tolerates no excuses. He is also one of only four Director Generals to hold the post of CP – S Ramamurthy, MN Singh, Ronnie Mendonca being the others. The DG as CP position was curbed, even more post the Pradhan Committee Report, to retain control over the position of CP. Exceptions are clearly made only for those worthy of that trust.

Javed, seen as a progressive and devout Muslim officer, who was peeved at being overlooked for the position in January last year, and will hold the crowning position for not much more than six months before retiring, is clearly above board and worthy of a move that shows the State Government recognizes the omission in his missing the appointment and believes in making amends. Rather than being a ‘punishment’ to Maria, the move is seen as an ‘amendment’ to Javed before his retirement.

Mumbai has a selection of fine officers to pick and choose from, each inspiring, respectable and loyalty in their men, often a compensation for a much-needed lack of police reforms, and a friendly and progre-ssive visage to a city known for its cosmo-politan liberalism, is a matter of pride indeed.

Maria, 58, had interrogated former media executive Indrani Mukerjea and those linked to her over the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora in April 2012. Indrani’s former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her driver Shyam Rai – both arrested two weeks ago – and her current husband, former Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea, too were questioned. Maria’s transfer order was issued hours after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis left for a tour of Japan. Maria has been apointed the director general of Home Guards in the state. The timing of Maria’s replacement, when he was leading the investigation into the sensational murder case, sparked the speculation about the reasons behind this decision. It surprised many in the state administration as Mumbai Police are about to file a charge-sheet in the case in the next few weeks.