Sheena Bora murder: Transfer of top cop raises questions

Maria was appointed in February 2014 by the Congress-NCP government superseding Ahmed and Vijay Kamble

The abrupt transfer of Mumbai city police commissioner Rakesh Maria on Tuesday, when he was barely 20 days away from a promotion, has exposed the groupism in the police force and has raised many questions. Maria has swapped places with Ahmed Javed as director general of home guards, Maharashtra. Maria was appointed in February 2014 by the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government, superseding Javed and Vijay Kamble.

Maria was shifted when the city police was about to file a chargesheet in the Sheena Bora murder case in the next few weeks. According to sources, the possibility of the investigation leading to the doorstep of some celebrities could be a reason behind Maria’s transfer.

A section of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena government in the state and the police administration attributed Maria’s transfer to the fact that he went overboard in the Bora case where TV tycoon Indrani Mukerjea is the prime accused.

Maria had visited the Khar police station in the western suburbs thrice during the interrogation of Indrani, her husband Peter and others. His almost-daily media briefings and the attention he appeared to have given to this particular case had made Fadnavis comment that the police should devote time to other cases, too.

On the other hand, by appointing Javed ahead of the 10-day Ganapati festival when the city gets terror threats, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has silenced his ruling ally Shiv Sena and critics. Javed is due to retire in a few months. The orders were issued when Fadnavis was away in Japan on an official visit.

Recently, Fadnavis sought an explanation for Maria’s meeting with cricket tycoon Lalit Modi in London, especially when the latter was being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate for money laundering and other financial misdemeanours.

A section of the ruling BJP says, Fadnavis, who holds the crucial home portfolio, has used the incident to signal the CM is in full command.

A BJP minister, who did not wish to be named, told Business Standard: “Fadnavis has also hinted he was not implementing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or Hindu agenda alone, but when it comes to governance and law and order, he wants to take every community on board.”

However, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) K P Bakshi sought to downplay the incident saying there was no hurry in transferring Maria. “It would have been inappropriate to transfer him on September 30, in the middle of the festive season as Ganapati festival is a very important event in Maharastra. Therefore, the government decided to advance the promotion of Maria,” he added.