Meet Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, Mumbai Police's new boss
What's the story
Mumbai Police got a new chief this weekend as senior IPS officer Subodh Kumar Jaiswal took charge of the force on Saturday. He succeeded Datta Padsalgikar, who took oath as the new Maharashtra DGP, replacing Satish Mathur. Mathur had held the post since 2016. Both Jaiswal and Padsalgikar were in intelligence agencies, before becoming the Mumbai Police Commissioner.
Past
Jaiswal was in R&AW before being called to Mumbai
55-year-old Jaiswal has had a prolific career till now. Before becoming the police chief, Jaiswal served in the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India's external intelligence agency. Before that, he was the additional secretary of Cabinet Secretariat of the Central Government from 2008. The low-key police officer is the second-most senior IPS officer after Padsalgikar in the state.
High-profile
He had investigated Malegaon blasts, serial train blasts, Pramod's murder
Jaiswal has worked in the Mumbai police force for nine years, handling some real high-profile cases. He headed the 2005 high court-appointed Special Investigating Team (SIT) that probed Abdul Karim Telgi's fake stamp papers scam. He also led the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and investigated the Malegaon blast case, serial train blasts and BJP leader Pramod Mahajan's murder, all in 2006.
Support
Jaiswal had solid backing of Fadnavis, Padsalgikar, bureaucrats
Though Thane police-chief Parambir Singh, CID commissioner Sanjay Barve and Pune CP Rashmi Shukla were other contenders, things worked out for Jaiswal. He had the backing of Padsalgikar, Praveen Pardeshi, an additional chief-secretary to the CM, and Devendra Fadnavis himself. His ATS experience and successful tenure in Mumbai Police acted as apt catalysts. Reportedly, Fadnavis had offered him the post way back in April.
Confusion
But will Jaiswal have full-fledged tenure as the police chief?
However, Jaiswal may have a blink-and-miss tenure as the police chief. Since Padsalgikar retires on August-31, the next obvious choice will be Jaiswal, because of seniority. But the SC had ruled recently that DGPs, once appointed, have to serve a fixed tenure of two years, despite age of superannuation. So Padsalgikar may get a longer tenure, helping Jaiswal remain the top cop till 2020.