DG Hemant Nagrale is the new Mumbai Police Commissioner as Rajnish Setha takes over as Maharashtra DGP

New Delhi, March 17

The Maharashtra Government on Wednesday removed Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh in the wake of the sensational incident of a bomb scare near the residence of top businessman Mukesh Ambani and the murder of SUV owner Mansukh Hiren.

Director General of Police Hemant Nagrale is the new Mumbai Police Commissioner.

Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze, who worked with the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Crime Branch-CID of Mumbai Police, has been arrested by NIA and ATS, respectively, in the two cases.

Vaze is suspected to have driven the white vehicle that escorted the SUV with explosives near the residence of Mukesh Ambani on February 2, according to the remand report of the National Investigation Agency (NIA)

The decisions were taken after a series of meetings presided over by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over the past three days. 

State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh made the announcement. Singh has been transferred as DG Homeguards. 

In another major reshuffle, Rajnish Seth has been appointed Maharashtra DGP while Sanjay Pandey will head the Maharashtra State Security Corporation. The former Mumbai CP Subodh Jaiswal has moved on central deputation and will head the CISF (Central Industrial Security Force).

DG Nagrale is 1987 batch Maharashtra cadre officer. Nagrale had served as Commissioner of the Navi Mumbai Police from May 2016 to July 2018.

Nagrale has also been with the Central Bureau of Investigation in the past on central deputation, serving as DIG and superintendent of police. Nagrale was involved in the operations during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack of November 2008. He was part of the team that had entered Hotel Taj Mahal Palace at Colaba in South Mumbai to shift the injured and the dead out of the facility.