Vijay Kamble and Ahmed Javed are disappointed with Rakesh Maria’s selection as the new Mumbai Police chief. Despite being seniors the duo has been sidelined for the coveted post.
The appointment of Rakesh Maria as the new Mumbai Police Commissioner has not gone down well with Vijay Kamble and Ahmed Javed who too were in fray for the top post. Even though Kamble and Javed have been promoted as the chief Police Commissioner of Thane and Director General of Police but they alleged that there has been too much political intervention in the selection process for the new Police Commissioner’s post. IPS officer Javed said that had the decision been taken in April 2013 when former CP Satyapal Singh was due for promotion, he would have been the natural choice.
After the appointment of Rakesh Maria for the coveted post Ahmed Javed said,” I am not disappointed with Rakesh Maria but with the manner in which the government is functioning. Too much political intervention is hampering the credibility of the police force. The delay in naming Mumbai’s top cop cost me the position that would have come to me automatically due to my seniority.”
The Congress had proposed the name of Vijay Kamble and Javed Ahmed for the post of the Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria was NCP’s choice. The Congress was banking on the candidature of Vijay Kamble to garner Dalit Votes. However, they backed off as the opposition would have criticised them for indulging in vote bank politics.
A close source revealed that Kamble was thinking about announcing voluntary retirement as he was unhappy after being sidelined for the post of police commissioner.
Till Saturday evening, Kamble was the front-runner for the post. “But a late evening meeting between home minister RR Patil and chief minister Prithviraj Chavan abruptly changed the game,” the source added
When asked Sanjay Patil, Mumbai president of NCP whether the appointment of Maria has been politically motivated, he said, “I can’t comment about this issue. Its better you should ask the same question to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan or State Home Minister R.R. Patil.”
Rakesh Maria, who belongs to the 1981 batch of the Indian Police Service, played a key role in arresting most of the accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. He has headed probes into 1993 Mumbai blasts and 26/11 attacks on the city.
Along with the appointment of new Police Commissioner, 86 officers also have been transferred across the state. Himanshu Roy is being appointed as the ATS chief. K.L Prasad has been appointed as the new Police Commissioner of Navi Mumbai. Rajendra Singh has been appointed as the new Commissioner of Police of Aurangabad.
