Amid the controversy of Mumbai police officer Sachin Vaze's alleged involvement in the Mukesh Ambani bomb scare case, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh announced the removal of Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh. He will take over as DG Home Guard.
Senior IPS officer Hemant Nagrale, holding additional charge of Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP), will take over as the new police chief of Mumbai.
Deshmukh, who met Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray earlier in the day, made the announcement on Twitter amid speculation in media over Singh's 'mishandling' of the Vaze episode.
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"Big decision of the government. Shri Hemant Nagrale will be the new Mumbai Police Commissioner. Shri Rajnish Seth will have the additional charge of the post of Director General of Police, Maharashtra," Deshmukh tweeted.
"Shri Sanjay Pandey will have the responsibility of Maharashtra State Security Corporation. Shri Param Bir Singh will have the responsibility of the Home Guard,” he added.
Vaze, who was attached to the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of city police's crime branch till recently, was arrested by the NIA on March 13, over its probe into the recovery of an explosives-laden SUV near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's house on February 25.
Interestingly, Singh's removal comes hours after Maharashtra Textile Minister Aslam Shaikh, while interacting with mediapersons, played down speculations of the Mumbai top cop's impending transfer. "Action will be taken if any official has committed a mistake. The government will not back anyone. It is not right to talk about transferring the DGP, CP or joint CP if anyone (else) makes a mistake," the Congress leader said, responding to accusations of opposition parties that the Uddhav Thackeray government was supporting Vaze.
The latest development follows Monday's talks between Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, amid reports that Vaze had stage-managed the bomb scare on the instructions of Singh.
The NIA team recovered some "incriminating" documents and electronic evidence such as laptop, iPad and mobile phones from Vaze's office, an official of the agency said on Tuesday.
A black Mercedes car, being used by Vaze, was also seized from a parking lot near the CSMT station, and Rs 5 lakh in cash, a note-counting machine, two number plates and some clothes were recovered from it, the official added.
(With PTI inputs)