Dattatray Padsalgikar likely to be city’s next CP

IPS officer Dattatray Padsalgikar is most likely to succeed Ahmad Javed as the city’s next commissioner of police. Mr Javed will retire from police service on Saturday after serving as an IPS officer for 36 years. Mr Javed will represent India as an ambassador to Saudi Arabia. His outgoing ceremony will take place on Saturday morning at the Naigaon police ground in Central Mumbai.

Mr Padsalgikar is a 1982 batch officer and has served 17 years in the Intelligence Bureau. He has also served as a deputy commissioner of police, detection in the Mumbai Police crime branch. After almost a decade, a Maharashtrian will head the Mumbai Police. Previously, D.N Jadhav was the Mumbai Police chief from March 2007 to February 2008.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis maintained the suspense on the appointment and refused to confirm the development. “The decision will be taken tomorrow,” he said when this newspaper requested him for a comment. Additional chief secretary K.P. Bakshi also maintained that no decision was final yet. “No one has been appointed as Mumbai CP yet. I will let you know when I issue an order in this regard,” he said.

Mr Fadnavis was keen to appoint Mr Padsalgikar as the chief of Mumbai Police and had requested the Central government to repatriate him from Intelligence Bureau.

The Central government agreed and Mr Padsalgikar was sent back to Maharashtra. National security advisor Ajit Doval was also backing Mr Padsalgikar.