Major reshuffle in Delhi Police as crime branch gets 1st woman chief

A fortnight before the 75th Republic Day, there was a major reshuffle in the top brass of Delhi Police and a total of 27 officers of the Indian Police Service (IPS), Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service (DANIPS) of special commissioners of police (special CPs) and deputy commissioners of police (DCPs) were assigned new roles, following an order from lieutenant governor VK Saxena.

In a first, a woman — 1996-batch IPS officer Shalini Singh — has been appointed the new crime branch chief. The existing special CP of the crime branch, Ravindra Singh Yadav (1995 batch), has replaced 1990-batch officer Deependra Pathak as special CP, law and order zone-I.

Senior police officers aware of the matter said it was a routine exercise due since the culmination of the G20 Summit in September. However, officers flagged the timing of the order — ahead of the Republic Day celebrations when most preparations are already complete and the rehearsals are in full swing.

“Preparations for the Republic Day involve multiple departments — including law and order, traffic, and security — and are down to two districts (New Delhi and central). The heads of these districts and divisions have been transferred when most of the preparations are already complete. It might be challenging for the new heads to adapt to their new roles,” an officer said, asking not to be named.

Among the 27 officers, 25 were IPS while the remaining two were DANIPS officers of DCP ranks. Eleven IPS officers of the special CP ranks holding important portfolios such as law and order, traffic and special cell have also been reallocated to new posts.

Pathak, who currently holds the post of law and order, zone I (comprising central, eastern and northern police ranges), has been posted as special CP, security, — a position held by Madhup Kumar Tiwari. Tiwari, a 1995-batch officer, has been given the charge of law and order, zone II.

Sagar Preet Hooda, a 1997-batch officer currently holding zone-II law and order, has been posted as special CP, operations, with the additional charge of perception management and media cell division.

“Pathak was given the law and order zone 1 division charge around two-and-a-half years ago from the intelligence unit because he was instrumental in holding talks with farmers agitating against farm laws at Tigri, Singhu, and Ghazipur borders in Delhi and ending the nearly a year-long protests. Hooda, during his tenure, handled the wrestlers’ protests at Jantar Mantar. Tiwari has been rewarded with the key posting for his successful supervision of the G20 Summit’s security arrangements. Under RS Yadav’s leadership, the crime branch solved many difficult crimes and neutralised gangsters,” said a senior officer, asking not to be named.

Rajender Pal Upadhyay, a 1991-batch IPS officer, has been appointed the new chief of the city police’s anti-terror squad, special cell, and has replaced HGS Dhaliwal (1997-batch), who has now been made the head of traffic zone-II, a post that his batchmate Surender Singh Yadav was holding. Yadav will now head the economic offences wing.

Upadhyay is currently the head of operations, media cell and perception management division. His batchmate Virender Singh Chahal has been transferred to the licensing department from traffic zone-I division, which will now be led by 1998-batch officer K Jegadesan.

Chhaya Sharma, a 1999-batch officer heading the training division will have the additional charge of special police units for women, children and the northeastern region.

As special CP (law and order), Hooda handled many sensitive cases and incidents, including the wrestlers’ protests at Jantar Mantar, protests by Congress party leaders during the questioning of Rahul Gandhi, the Shraddha Walkar case, the Parliament security breach case, and the low-intensity blast near the Israel embassy.

Under Dhaliwal, who has now been transferred to the traffic unit, special cell teams cracked many high-profile cases, including the murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala in Punjab, and the arrest of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorist Javed Mattu. In his new role as special CP traffic zone-2, Dhaliwal will have to face the challenges of ensuring smooth vehicular movement in the city, apart from the implementation of many key projects such as intelligence traffic management system (ITMS).

16 DCPs reshuffled

Usha Rangnani, a 2011-batch IPS officer will be the new DCP of IGI airport and will replace Devesh Kumar Mahla, a 2012-batch officer, who has been given the charge of DCP, New Delhi district.

The current DCP of New Delhi, Pranav Tayal, has been appointed as DCP, special branch — a post Rangnani was holding.

Rangnani’s batchmates Sanjay Kumar Sain and Manoj C have been transferred out as DCPs of central and southwest districts, respectively. They have been made the DCPs of the crime branch and special cell, respectively.

Two more 2011 batch officers — Ingit Pratap Singh and Amrutha Guguloth — holding posts of DCP special cell and DCP east district, respectively, will now be DCP vigilance and DCP EOW, respectively.

Meanwhile, Rohit Meena and Harsha Vardhan, two 2012-batch IPS officers currently heading Shahdara and Dwarka districts, respectively, will continue to be district DCPs and have been given southwest and central districts, respectively.

Apoorva Gupta, a 2013-batch IPS officer holding the charge of DCP, railways, has replaced Guguloth as the new DCP east. Her batchmates Ankit Kumar Singh and Surender Choudhary have been given the charge of DCP Dwarka and DCP Shahdara, respectively. They were serving as DCP crime and DCP EOW, respectively.

Two DANIPS officers, Kamalpal Singh and Patel Aalap Mansukh, have been transferred out from land and building, and traffic units. Singh will be the new DCP railways while Patel has been sent to the security unit.