Senior IPS officer Hemant Nagrale was appointed the new Mumbai Police Commissioner on Wednesday. He replaces Param Bir Singh who was in the eye of the storm over the security scare near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s home Antilia in Mumbai.

The announcement of the change at the top of the Mumbai Police hierarchy was made by state home minister Anil Deshmukh.

Singh has been given the charge of Director General (DG), Home Guard. He was shunted out days after the row over Mumbai police officer Sachin Vaze’s alleged involvement in placing an explosive-laden vehicle near Antilia.

“Shri Hemant Nagrale appointed as the new CP of Mumbai City, Additional charge of DGP Maharashtra State given to Shri Rajnish Seth, Shri Sanjay Pandey will head the Maharashtra State Security Corporation,” Deshmukh tweeted on Wednesday.

Major decisions by Maharashtra Government:Shri Hemant Nagrale appointed as the new CP of Mumbai City,Additional charge of DGP Maharashtra State given to Shri Rajnish Seth,Shri Sanjay Pandey will head the Maharashtra State Security Corporation and (1/2)

— ANIL DESHMUKH (@AnilDeshmukhNCP) March 17, 2021

Who is Nagrale?

A 1987-batch IPS officer, Hemant Nagrale, had earlier held the additional charge of the Commissioner of Police (CP)-Mumbai, for a brief period in 2014. In January this year, Nagrale, who was the Director General-Technical and Legal, was given the additional charge of the DGP, Maharashtra. He had succeeded Subodh Jaiswal who was appointed as the DG of the Central Industrial Security Force.

Before this, Nagrale served as the Police Commissioner of Navi Mumbai from May 2016 to July 2018. He is a mechanical engineering graduate from VRCE Nagpur and also holds a masters degree in finance management.

Nagrale was with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from 1998 to 2002. Among some of the high-profile cases that he handled were the Ketan Parekh and Harshad Mehta scams.

He is also hailed for his actions during the Mumbai terror attack in 2008. When the attacks took place at the Taj hotel, Nagrale, who was then at Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), and four other policemen helped in shifting many victims to nearby hospitals.

Rajnish Seth, currently the DG, Anti-corruption Bureau, Maharashtra, will replace Nagrale. The 1988-batch IPS officer will be holding the additional charge of DGP, Maharashtra.

(Edited by : Aditi Gautam)

First Published:Mar 17, 2021 8:17 PM IST