Regd. No. MH/MR/South-160/2012-14 RNI Regn. No. 43675/1985 MUMBAI TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2014 32 PAGES `3 Website: www.afternoondc.in
Aft er oo DESPATCH & COURIER
By Neel Shah
A
ADGP (ATS) Rakesh Maria: If declared as the city’s new police chief, he would most certainly remain in the post for nearly two years. An officer of the 1981 batch, Maria, who recently turned 56, has extraordinary credentials. He showed exemplary skills during all his stints in the city at different designations but there was no looking back for Maria after the year 1993, in which he, as DCP (Traffic), played a key role in arresting most of the accused of 1993 serial blasts and for the first time unearthed Pakistan’s role in training ultras and sponsoring the blasts in the city. Exactly a decade later, during his posting as Additional CP (Crime), Maria cracked the twin blasts of Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazar in 2003, and when posted as JCP (Crime), he successfully broke the most active module of the terrorist organization, the Indian Mujahideen (IM). An officer with razor-sharp memory, his colleagues and officers who have worked under him, consider him to be a man with no full-stops, who brings out the solution for each and every problem. He is one among quite a few IPS officers in the state police, who have kept himself well-versed with not only the crimes in the city but also with the inside information of the D-Gang’s meetings happening behind Karachi’s well guarded doors. This knowledge and information, in his ‘red diary’, is thanks to the large network of ‘loyal’ informers, which he has able to gather during the past two decades.
Finally, Mumbai may get a top cop it really deserves
major re-shuffle in the higher echelons of the state police department is imminent, with the city getting its new police chief by this weekend. The chances of Addtional DG and the incumbent state ATS chief Rakesh Maria being announced as the city’s police commissioner are high, revealed well-placed sources in the home ministry. Talking to the ADC, the sources informed, “Considering the election code of conduct that will be in place after a month, and the considerable delay in the transfers of the IPS officers who are already due for transfer or promotion, and most of them having completed their respective tenures, the government has to take the decision at this point of time.” Another significant reason for the transfers being likely to take place now is that the differences between Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Home Minister R R Patil over the issue of police transfers have been sorted out during last week’s Cabinet sub-committee meeting, added the sources. In the meeting, it was finally decided that the CM would continue to decide on the transfers of the IPS officers of the ranks of commissioner, additional commissioner and IG, but the power to transfer the police officers of the rank of deputy superintendent and additional SP of state services would be vested with Patil. The state DGP and department heads under his jurisdiction will now have the powers to transfer police personnel till the level of police inspector. Meanwhile, the sources explained that though there are quite a few IPS officers in the run up for the post of city police chief,
Maria’s name is being strongly considered. In addition, it becomes pertinent to know that apart from Maria, the only other name being considered for the final announcement is that of Additional DG (Establishment) Satish Mathur. neel.shah@afternoondc.in
MOST OF MUMBAI LEFT OUT
CABINET CUTS POWER TARIFFS BY 20 PER CENT, LEAVES OUT MOST OF MUMBAI By Prashant Hamine
per cent for commercial, industrial, agricultural and reshe State cabinet meeting idential power consumers, yesterday, witnessed a consuming upto 300 units of heated debate over its deci- power and availing power sion to cut power tariffs by 20 supply from state power util-
T
ity Mahavitaran (Distribution). The decision – which leaves out large parts of Mumbai and tariffs of private Continued on pg 8 «
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