Satish Mathur appointed as Maharashtra DGP

IPS officer Satish Mathur has been appointed as the new Director General of Police (DGP), Maharashtra. He will be replacing Pravin Dixit, who was serving in the post since September 2015.

The announcement was made by K.P. Bakshi, additional chief secretary (home) on Saturday. Mr Dixit will retire from service on July 31, and Mr Mathur is set to take charge in the coming week.

Mr Mathur, who is an officer of the 1981 IPS batch, is currently the senior- most officer in the force. He is currently the additional DGP of the anti-corruption bureau, a post he took over in April. Mr Mathur in his tenure with the ACB oversaw investigation in major cases. One such investigation was into the allegation that former revenue minister Eknath Khadse’s alleged aide Gajanan Patil demanded a bribe of Rs 30 crore wherein he was arrested outside Mantralaya.

Mr Mathur is one of the earliest officers to be trained by the National Security Guard and was part of the investigation team of the serial blasts that rocked Mumbai in 1993.

He has earlier served with the Central Bureau of Investigation and Air India and was the first officer to be appointed as the Director General of Police — legal and technical. He had to his credit an increased conviction rate for Maharashtra.

Mr Mathur has also served as the commissioner of police for Pune from March 2015 to 2016. He is also known for his investigation into the murder of Commander-in-chief of the Army, General Arun Kumar Vaidya who was gunned down on August 10, 1986, in Pune.